Title: Ticket marker's board

Identifier: Tobacco Farm Life Museum   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/14264)

Description: A ticket marker’s board was used during the sale of tobacco to write down important sale information. Once the auction started, a man called the ticket marker walked with the auctioneer and the buyers up and down the rows of tobacco and watched every move that was made. When the word “sold” was heard, the tobacco ticket was taken from the top of the tobacco bundle and the ticket marker would use his board to briefly rest the ticket on as he wrote the buyers name and the amount of sale on the ticket. A bundle of tobacco could be sold in less than six seconds, so it was important for the ticket marker to keep up. The marker’s board contains a hole in the top where the marker’s thumb would hook in to hold the board, much like a painter’s pallet. The board seen here also contains a sheet on which the tobacco grades and rates appear in a code form. Date approximated. The accompanying video describes its purpose and displays some historical images or the tobacco market.