An official website of the United States government.
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and Farm Market Photograph Collection
Scope and Contents
From Drupal guide:
Slides depict food market distribution operations in thirty states throughout the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico from 1958-1985. Additionally, the content shows food commodities and market operations in twelve foreign countries. Images frequently represent terminal markets, an organized market in a city into which large quantities of agricultural produce and livestock shipped for distribution and sale.
Additionally, images portray food distribution activities at ports and terminals; state distribution warehouses; storage facilities for dairy, produce, fish, and meat; orchards and fruit auctions; and farm and fish markets. Also included are slide presentations with tables and graphs.
The National Association of Produce Market Managers, founded in 1947 to help market managers improve facilities and increase services, is an example of an associated organization named on some slide captions.
Slides remain in original order and grouped in approximate alphabetical order by state. Foreign market slides are located in Boxes 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24.
Dates
- Creation: 1959-1984
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1960s-1970s
Conditions Governing Access
Contact Special Collections for access.
Organizational Chronology
July 1, 1938:
Division of Transportation established in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics
July 1, 1939:
Divisions of Marketing and Transportation Research combined to form a single division, the Division of Marketing and Transportation Research
April 3, 1961:
Bureau of Agricultural Economics reorganized and reassigned to Agricultural Marketing Service. Marketing research related to the development of improved equipment, facilities, work methods, techniques and practices for efficient handling and movement of fruit and vegetables to consumers. The Agricultural Marketing Service administered the United Terminal Market Wholesale Division.
July 1, 1964:
Functions of the Market Quality Research Section and of the Transportation and Facilities Research Division transferred to the Agricultural Research Service.
Total Size of Collection
4 records_box
4 Files (Slide drawer unit: 3 drawers, 24 x 18 x 11.25; 1 drawer, 5.5 x 12 x 4)
11.5 Linear Feet (4 boxes, 4 slide storage drawers)
Language of Materials
English
Content Description
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and Farm Market Photograph Collection consists primarily of slides of farm markets and associated marketing and transportation activities throughout the United States, with a few examples from foreign countries.
Bibliography
Bowers, Douglas E. The United States Department of Agriculture, 1961-1989: [draft]. Washington, D.C.: Agricultural and Rural History Section, National Economy and History Branch, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1993. https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdepa00bowe
Related Collections at the National Agricultural Library: Special Collections Film Collection
https://www.nal.usda.gov/finding_aids/film-collection
Food Markets – Transition to the Future
Tour of Atlanta Market
Related Collections at Other Institutions: The National Archives and Records Administration. “Records of the Agricultural Marketing Service [AMS] Record Group 136.” https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/136.html.
Genres
photographs
- Status
- Unprocessed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the National Agricultural Library Special Collections Repository
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Avenue
Room 309
Beltsville Maryland 20705 USA
301-504-5876