Waitukubuli Virtual Museum

TALLY MAN - "Tally me banana:"

Since the death of entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte (1927 - 2023) last month, many references have been made to his popular rendition of the Jamaican folk song 'Day Oh!' and the tallyman who was tallying the bunches of bananas carried by the women loading the banana boats.

Here are two early photographs of the tallyman and the women banana carriers in the early days of the industry in Dominica. These were taken at Fond Cole, which was the main banana shipping place, along with Salisbury and Portsmouth in the late 1940s. Everything was very basic.

Here the tallyman is handing out the rubber tokens as the women quickly put them in a cloth bag strapped around their waist and continue their speedy walk towards the jetty. The first earlier photo shows the bananas unwrapped, while the second photo, taken a couple years later, shows the bunches wrapped in protective 'Diothene' plastic. The banana boat is anchored offshore ready to take the bananas to England. (Photos by Angela Winski)