Tiny Children with Sharp Knives
Mary, four, shucks about two pots of oysters daily alongside her mother at the Dunbar Cannery in Dunbar, Louisiana. To shuck an oyster, Mary used a sharp knife, inserting it in the oyster and turning it until it opens, and the oyster meat is exposed. The meat was cut out, and the shell thrown on the floor until it was collected to be sold for use in local road repair.
As the fastest shucker at her job, Mary’s mother earns $1.50 per day. Her father also works at the factory on the oyster docks. Hine reports the boss saying next year, when Mary turns five, she will work “steady as the rest of them.” The four-year-old currently watches her baby sibling so her mother can work. Oyster shucking at the Dunbar cannery was piecework; the workers were paid based on how many oysters they were able to shuck.
