In 1899, John Mortimer Murphy, an experienced hunter and author, wrote an article titled "Alligator Shooting in Florida." In it, he discusses the economics of commercial alligator hunting, which at that time was becoming a big business in South Florida:

The hide is, primarily, the most valuable part, then comes the teeth, which are made into watch guards, breast pins, earrings and other articles, which meet a ready sale at good prices. Teeth in the best condition are worth from one to five dollars per pound, and at retail sell for ten times that amount. The flesh is eagerly devoured by dogs, pigs and fowls, and the oil extracted from it is worth twelve to twenty-five cents a gallon. When the meat is deprived of its oily matter and smoked or dried, it makes an excellent food for some domestic animals. . .

I have been trying to obtain some accurate information as to the number of alligators destroyed every year, but have not succeeded thus far. I noticed that two firms in Jacksonville advertise steadily for 100,000 green salted hides; by allowing that each receives this quantity annually we have a basis of 200,000 to start on. Admit that tourists kill 2,000; that twice as many are slaughtered for sport by natives, and that 20,000 or 30,000 hides are sent directly to Northern and Western markets, and we have 246,000, or say, in round figures, 250,000 alligators destroyed each year in Florida.

One sought-after product that Murphy neglected to mention was alligator eggs.

(Excerpted from Tales of Old Florida, edited by Frank Oppel and Tony Meisel, pp. 363-364).