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Care and Adjustment of Model "G" "Iron Chink," circa 1906

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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.

This booklet was published by the machine's manufacturing company, Smith Cannery and Machines Company, and provides information about how to properly operate and perform maintenance on the machine.

Caption information source: "Automated salmon cleaning machine developed in Seattle in 1903," by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2109.
ID Number: 2018.3.3.128
Date: Circa 1906
Creator(s): Smith Cannery Machine Company, Publisher
Physical Description: 1 pamphlet (19 p.) ; 5.25 x 7.5 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, 2018.3.3.128
Copyright: No Known Copyright
Subjects: Manufacturing, Fish and Fishing, Discrimination, Innovation and Invention

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

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