Category: Alaska’s Historic Canneries

Fri, December 05, 2014

Canned Salmon Exports to Britain

by Ross Coen From the very start of the salmon packing industry in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska in the nineteenth century, Great Britain was by far the largest importer of canned salmon, in some years accounting for up to 95% of the total export market. The packers accordingly designed their labels to appeal to British customers. Some labels featured portraits of Queen Victoria, while others played upon Anglo-American loyalties. The label shown below, Electric (circa 1880s), is an example... (Read More)

Thu, October 23, 2014

The History of Canned Salmon…right there on the label

by Ross Coen In addition to being works of art in their own right, canned salmon labels are unique historical artifacts. They can tell us which canneries operated where and when. They point to the marketing strategies used by the packers to attract consumers in different eras. And, as the Oona label below illustrates, they reveal a great deal about racial stereotypes and the appropriation of Native American iconography for commercial purposes. (click on image to see larger version) Note... (Read More)

Thu, September 04, 2014

Iron Creek’s Last Season

By: Charles Austin [gallery ids="3398"] Raspberry Island is a small, steep and densely wooded island wedged between the larger islands of Kodiak and Afognak in southwestern Alaska. It is separated from Afognak to its north by a narrow channel called Raspberry Strait, and along Raspberry Strait in 1951 there were three herring reduction plants called Port Wakefield, Port Vita and Iron Creek. Iron Creek was the smallest, having no fishing boats of its own but relying on... (Read More)

Thu, July 17, 2014

Klawock Cannery 1878

By: J. Pennelope Goforth One of the first salmon canneries to open in Alaska incited a riot before the ship had even offloaded a single tin can. The incident, involving locals and imported labor, was the first of many such conflicts in Alaska over the rights to the seemingly endless resource of salmon. The fracas epitomizes the classic Pacific Coast fisheries struggle of indigenous subsistence users and capitalized ‘outside interests’ boosted by technology. Alaska historian Patricia Roppel references this incident... (Read More)

Wed, June 18, 2014

Jeanice Welsh, Alaska cannerywoman

(The following is taken from “Mrs. Jeanice Welsh Killed in Yakutat Earthquake,” Pacific Fisherman (August 1958): 47. The earthquake in which Jeanice Welsh perished also triggered a landslide and the subsequent giant wave at Lituya Bay. Thanks goes to James Mackovjac for sharing this.) Mrs. Jeanice Welsh Killed in Yakutat Earthquake. Mrs. Jeanice Welsh Walton, who was generally known in the salmon industry as Jeanice Welsh, and as the only woman who ever owned and personally operated a salmon canning... (Read More)