Alaska News

Photos: Historic Alaska salmon labels

KETCHIKAN — University of Washington doctoral candidate Ross Coen was in Ketchikan recently to research a subject he's passionate about: salmon can labels.

Coen admits that he's a "nerd" when it comes to his interest in salmon can labels. Just like someone might collect baseball cards, others collect labels from fish packers.

He also helped the Ketchikan museum document and catalog salmon labels in its collection.

Coen says the canned salmon industry was at its height in the early 1900s. At that time, refrigeration wasn't generally available and canning provided an easy way to transport food throughout the world. Coen says part of his fascination with fish packing labels is that they tell a history of time and place.

"Each label is a snapshot, a moment in time of history, that reflects the political circumstances, the cultural conditions and economic conditions that were going on at the time that these labels were produced and the salmon was marketed."

Coen says fish packers often incorporated current events into label designs.

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