“Can you imitate a tobacco auctioneer for us?”

The question came from an Englishman in the back of the room. I was pretty surprised to get this question after speaking to a Rotary club a few weeks ago. It turns out that the gentleman had witnessed a tobacco sale many years ago in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and wanted to see if I could imitate an auctioneer. After kindly declining to even try to portray an auctioneer, I did my best to explain that the auctioneer was not only speedily announcing prices to the buyers, but was also announcing the company and tobacco grade given by the buyer once it was sold.

I worked in Old Brick Warehouse during the summers from 1992 to 2000-literally seeing many changes in the tobacco market over the years. Tobacco went from being sold in burlap sheets to bales of 600-800 lbs. Slowly, more farmers started baling their tobacco, and each year I watched as the sale floor was made up of less sheets. Golf carts slowly disappeared as forklifts took over moving the tobacco around. Although sweeping up the floor did not take nearly as long with the bales, much of the atmosphere and life to the warehouse had its heartbeat in the auction.

My main job was to weigh the tobacco when it came to the warehouse. Even though it was easier to weigh the bales as the slid across the conveyor belt and onto the scale, it was much more exciting to weigh the sheets. With sheets, you had to have several guys to operate the system smoothly. People were on the truck, operating the hook, setting the tobacco on the golf cart trailers, driving the golf carts, pulling the tobacco off the trailers to set up for a sale, and (if I was lucky), someone to staple the tickets onto the weighed tobacco sheets. If you never saw this process run at full speed (and in perfect fashion), you missed a treat. As the weighman, I constantly was filling out bills and tickets with the correct information to be later calculated in the office.

But, much of my job was spent listening, and trying to listen intently. Not only was I listening to a member of the crew scream “Weigh!” when a sheet was properly on the scale, but also listening to whoever sat beside me at the weigh table. Drivers, farmers or fellow warehouse workers-they all had great stories to share. And so, I was told plenty of jokes, farm tales, and warehouse stories. As is the case with great Southern storytelling, you had to take a lot of the stories with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately, the auction system has now all but disappeared. Replaced by individual contracts between farmers and tobacco companies, the warehouse is no longer the center of activity, both for the tobacco industry, and the town of Mullins.

I feel fortunate to have worked in the warehouse for many reasons. First, it was much better than working in the fields. Second, it taught me a lot about the process of the tobacco industry. But mostly, the warehouse was always filled with lively characters from all walks of life. There were warehouse workers, farmers, buyers, townspeople, vendors, office ladies, government graders, and the occasional tour group that pulled up in a bus to check out this “cultural phenomenon” of Mullins. However, I cannot complete the characters involved without mentioning the big opening day of the Mullins market-when politicians of all levels, shapes and sizes came to watch, along with many more interested folks from around the town and county. It was usually on this day that I picked up a few pens and hats from the local banks.

During most of my Rotary speaking engagements, I talk about the connections between Mullins and tobacco. Since it was brought to Mullins in 1894 and became the leading cash crop in 1920, tobacco has influenced many lives. My own family farmed tobacco for many years, and my brother Jason and I worked in tobacco for several summers. Tobacco even became a part of my artwork when I was at Mullins High School. In many ways, I am attached to the history of Mullins by being involved in the tobacco market. All of this adds to my enjoyment of telling others about this industry that put Mullins on the map for many years.

In my Rotary talks, it’s fun to get away from discussing the complex issues of international relations, American politics or European politics. I enjoy talking about growing up in Mullins, my family, and the tobacco market. The great thing is that most English Rotarians have not heard anything about tobacco farming before, so they are interested in hearing my tobacco tales.

If you have not visited the South Carolina Tobacco Museum, you should do so. Perhaps Mullins will have a few visitors from England in the next couple of years. But, until then, the citizens of Marion County should enjoy this special place located in the Mullins Depot. Young people should especially take advantage of the Tobacco Museum-to learn more about tobacco, farming and the history of Mullins.

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Lucas McMillan is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar studying international relations at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. He represents the Rotary Club of Mullins and Rotary District 7770 of South Carolina.

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