Item 49: Pressing Oil from the Cooked Cotton-seed; Boiler in Background

Black-and-white image of an African American male worker putting cloth-covered cottonseed cakes into the hydraulic press. Once all of the press shelves are filled, cottonseed oil is squeezed out of the cakes, runs down the side of the press, and flows through a trough to a settling tank. It takes about 20 minutes to fill the shelves of the press, extract oil, and empty the shelves for refilling. Note the boiler in the right background. Meadville, Pa.: Keystone View Company, ca. 1900-1920. 17.75 x 8.75 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.