Thirty-Inch Crate Plank Stamped "Tacoma Fish and Packing Co. Tacoma WASH" within a Salmon Image
Tacoma: Tacoma Fish and Packing Co., 1920s. Pine board. Pine board stamped in black with "Tacoma Fish and Packing Co. Tacoma WASH." within the form of a salmon. Board was once a panel in a crate designed to accommodate canned salmon. Board measures 30" x 10". With stains and wear commensurate with age, along with old nail holes from the original crate. Good+. Item #6628 Many canneries used stencils to label their crates. The imagery here appears to be a stamp. Eventually the advent of cheap printing allowed paper labels to be pasted on crates and boxes. A fine memento of the extraction economy that continues to resonate, for better or worse, in the Pacific Northwest.
The Tacoma Fish & Packing Company was extant as early as 1920, and remained active at least until the early 1930s. Located at 1107 Dock Street, Tacoma, the wholesale shipper specialized "in Puget Sound salmon," fresh, frozen or smoked, according to a 1932 ad. Declining salmon runs and the ramifications of the Great Depression may well have hastened the firm's decline.
Price: $75.00