Brochure for the "Iron Chink" fish cleaning machine, circa 1909

HomeCollections and ResearchCollections SearchBrochure for the "Iron Chink" fish cleaning machine, circa 1909

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

Back to Results

Image of Brochure for the — 1970.4992.2_1

View full size image or right-click on image to save

Ephemera

Brochure for the "Iron Chink" fish cleaning machine, circa 1909

Contact MOHAI to Order

In 1903, Seattle inventor Edmund A. Smith (1870-1909) developed a machine that gutted and cleaned salmon for canning 55 times faster than human workers. Most Northwest cannery workers were Chinese immigrants, and Smith, with "unselfconscious racism" (in the words of historian Carlos Schwantes), called his invention the Iron Chink. The innovation increased cannery profits, but forced thousands of people to find other forms of work.

The brochure pictured here describes the machine which was manufactured and distributed by Smith Cannery Machines Company of Seattle.

Caption information source: "Automated salmon cleaning machine developed in Seattle in 1903," by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2109

ID Number: 1970.4992.2

Date: Circa 1909

Creator(s): Smith Cannery Machine Company, Author

Physical Description: 1 leaflet (4 p.) ; 8.5 x 11 in.

Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.

Credit: MOHAI, 1970.4992.2

Subjects: Businesses and Corporations, Discrimination, Food and Beverage Industries, Innovation and Invention, Manufacturing