New book features histories of S.E. canneries

PETERSBURG–Seafood industry researchers to casual history buffs will use and enjoy Tin Can Country - Southeast Alaska's Historic Salmon Canneries.

This copiously illustrated edition is filled with stories, essays, historic photographs, custom made maps and colorful salmon can labels that together tell the story of S.E.

Alaska's seafood industry from the time of tidewater Tlingit fish traps to today's highly mechanized, competitive corporate-conglomerated industry.

It's a perfect coffee table book, because it leaves room for coffee. Formatted in a horizontal or landscape layout, it allows for large reproduction of full-color salmon can labels from Karen Hofstad's significant collection.

Editor Anjuli Grantham pulled material from over 50 years of historic collections and research performed by the late Patricia Roppel and Karen Hofstad and kept the subject matter filled with substance yet interesting.

Maps produced by David Johnson made it easy to track the cannery sites, and the inside of the dust cover jacket displays all of the S.E. Alaska cannery locations in a single 38-inch map.

While not a comprehensive, all-inclusive history text book, the editor allows space to feature detailed essays and stories by Dave Kiffer, Wayne Short, Janet Clemens, Jim Mackovjak, Sue Jensen-Paulsen, Bob King and Howard Kutchin to name a few. They illuminate issues pertaining to civil rights, labor unions, state politics, war years, fish traps and the production of tin cans, wooden barrels, kegs and salmon boxes. And what about the article and illustrations on page 68 telling us how to open a salmon can by turning it on its side?

We were dumfounded by the detailed engineering drawings of the Kake Cannery buildings along with meticulous sketvhes of the "Iron Chink" fish processing machine from 1927.

Grantham states it succinctly: "This anthology is a seafood smorgasbord. It combines micro-histories of the operations of specific canneries within Southeast Alaska with interpretive essays that provide wider historical context."

The best part of the project is that Petersburg's Karen Hofstad bankrolled the entire cost of producing this book, and granted all proceeds along with the copyright to Clausen Memorial Museum. Hofstad modestly calls it her gift to S.E. Alaska and the Clausen Museum.

The book will go on sale at the museum gift shop and bookstores during this year's Little Norway Festival.