It was a hot Thursday afternoon in 1954. The water was 180 degrees. I killed the fryer-size chicken and dipped it into the scalding water tank. Then I held it up to the spinning wheel of my home-made picker. I watched as my invention stripped the feathers downward until the chicken was bald. Success. One down and 249 to go. A new project on our cotton farm. One that would bring money all year.