Interesting Old photos of early orchid harvests

[Stray59]

Hello everyone -
I have looked for these photos for several weeks - finally found them. They are from the State Archives of Florida "Florida Memory" (photographer J. Kunkel Small - year 1915 -1916, from the J. K. Small collection) and they depict early orchid collectors and how they literally gathered wagon loads of orchids that were removed from the wild. Interesting, but it also shows how others raped and pillaged the native plants to ship to collectors of the time.
Hope you enjoy looking at them!
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Steve
Here is the link to the photo collection;
Florida Memory - Browse

(Update 05/04/2013 -Sorry everyone - I did not mean "enjoy" as in "Oh boy - wish I could do that" - more of a "Wow - that's how they did it!" sort of post. Bad wording, but it does inform us of how early collectors got their stock!)

[Bud]

Steve, I did not enjoy the pictures....it will give me nightmares for a while....
but it is good you posted this
as a reminder to poachers to never gather plants in the wild....
never disturb the ecosystem or the balance of nature....

[SlipperGirl]

Very informative thanks for posting

[AnonYMouse]

I don't condone illegal poaching.

With so much habitat loss, I hope everything is being done to catalogue and secure samples (better captive than extinct).

[Oscarman]

These days we know that this is a terrible practice, but back then the outrageous demand for all things new and exciting.........

Lets not forget that many of these plants formed the early breeding stock of the plants we enjoy today.

[Andrew]

Great photos Steve. Thanks for posting them.

Oscarman,
I completely agree with you. These photo's need to be viewed in the context of the time they were taken.

[Stray59]

I remember I read somewhere that early collector's did not think that the root system was that important and that often the plants were just "hacked" off the trees with little regard for the roots. It is hard to imagine, but at the time there was such an abundance of these natural resources that people did not believe they could ever be "endangered" - of course that same thinking has been the demise of the passenger pigeon, the dodo and many other species of animals and plants - and it continues today with illegal rhino horn and elephant ivory!
I kind of wonder how many of the orchids shown are still in existence today? No way to actually know, but then the demand seems small considering the abundance of plants at the time I am sure.
Well, I at least hope you found the pics informative. I did.
Steve

[Oscarman]

History is history and there's not much we can do about it other than learn and progress.

Thanks again for the pictures Steve, it was really neat to have a glimpse of history.

[AnonYMouse]

The pics are provocative in that they provoke thoughtful discussion.

I, too wonder how many of those species survive in the wild. I wouldn't be surprised if they only survive in collections.

[NYCorchidman]

That's how Bisons and beavers got all wiped out in North America (I mean they are still around but under strict protection). lol
People knew what they were doing. It was greed. taking much more than needed or only for the gain and fame. bad bad bad