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This shovel was used in the Connecticut River Valley around 1900 when onions became an important crop. The open design of the scoop allows dirt, debris, and very small onions to be sieved out. The design may also have lightened the weight of the shovel, which could make a large difference to the laborer shoveling all day long. The soil in the Connecticut River Valley, from Wethersfield, Connecticut, to Hadley, Massachusetts, was well-suited to the cultivation of onions and the available work-force of Polish immigrants in the late 19th century made for heavy production of this root crop.

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