How do you know it is a slave tag? Is it by the name Porter or what is written above. I have never seen one being from the west.
Thanks in advance. Love to learn new things.
The photo posted above is indeed a depiction of an authentic Charleston SC slave hire badge (commonly known as a "tag"). I believe that Creskol posted this example to clarify the sequence order in how the information is listed on the actual authentic slave hire "tags".
For additional history and insight into slave hire badges or "tags", please note the informative descriptions in the following link:
Saw a slave tag for sale a couple of days ago on Craigslist/ It was rusty but legible. Planning on doing some detecting tomorrow myself. Maybe I'll get lucky and find one!
Porter is indeed the occupation as listed on the Charleston Slave Hire Badge shown above in Creskol's post. For the slave hire badges or "tags" though, PORTER is in fact the second most common occupation.
Beginning with the most common, to the rarest, a list of occupations follows:
SERVANT
PORTER
MECHANIC
MECHANIK (with a K)
FRUITERER
FRUITERER &c
FISHER
CARPENTER
HUCKSTER
(as well a couple other rare varieties)
For a view of authentic Slave Hire Badges sold at auction, the following link is provided: