New Idea Corn Picker Model: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The nature of farming dramatically changed in the 20th century through what came to be known as the Green Revolution. From the 1920s-1950s farming productivity rose dramatically due to mechanization, fertilizers, chemicals (fungicides, pesticides, herbicides) and the hybridization of plants and animals. Agricultural innovations continue to be important to farming today. While the museum has over a dozen full-size tractors and other pieces of farming equipment, most technical developments of the 20th century are represented in the collection through toys and models.

This plastic and metal model is a New Idea one-row corn picker that was made by Topping Models, Inc. of Akron, Ohio, in 1952. The picker is made to be tractor-drawn.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: picker, corn
• Measurements: overall: 5 in x 13 in; 12.7 cm x 33.02 cm
• ID Number: AG.52A02.05
• catalog number: 52A02.05
• accession number: 193939
• Credit Line: E. W. Topping, President, Topping Models, Inc.
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.