 |
| Van Camp Sea Food Company, nd, c. 1955. Women clean and sort loin for packing. ~ San Pedro Bay Historical Society |
|
| The Canning Process
PROMOTIONAL CANNERY MATERIALS OF THE 1950s NEGLECTED THE EXPERIENCE of the cannery workers. Printed pamphlets from that era describe the canning process with a discreet lack of human labor.
“The meat is chopped to size and packed in cans,” reports The Tuna Research Foundation in the early 1950s.
By focusing on the canning process women's participation can be seen.
HEAR Goldeen Kaloper remember the cannery and her position in Quality Control
|
Women & New Tasks
THE POSITIONS ALONG THE CANNING SYSTEM WERE OFTEN NEWLY CREATED TASKS. In many cases, it was immigrant women who mastered certain cannery tasks and became the first experts.
THE MACHINERY IN THE CANNERY REQUIRED CONSTANT
ATTENTION. Women rarely look up from their tasks with knives along the
conveyor belts or while sorting fish for separate packing. Star-Kist literature proudly states an "almost 100 per cent safety record." Accidents, although rare, did happen.
HEAR Mary Oreb remember how dangerous the machinery could be.
|
 |
| Van Camp Sea Food Company, nd. c. 1955. Sorting tuna loin for solid white or chunk light pack. ~ San Pedro Bay Historical Society |
|
|
|
|