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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2021
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Columbia River Maritime Museum
The more unique the label, the more a brand could stand out to potential customers.
‘The uglier the salmon, the older the label’
The story behind fl awed designs on antique salmon cans
By JULIA TRIEZENBERG
For The Astorian
C
olumbia River salmon were
sold around the world, from
eastern United States to
Great Britain, Australia, India and
parts of Africa. Each place had its
own unique consumer base, so the
canneries had to personalize their
labels based on their customers’
locale. Sometimes the labels weren’t
exactly accurate.
Canneries on the Columbia River
boomed in the 1870s and 1880s,
with their peak around 1884. While
some of the fi rst canning labels were
printed on simple newspaper, they
quickly advanced to more substantial
and eye-catching designs.
Most brands of salmon origi-
nally started with red labels. Canner-
ies had issues with rust in their early
years, so the red on the labels hid any
rust spots that might appear.
The fi rst designs were created
with a simple form of chalk lithogra-
phy. More detailed forms of lithogra-
phy emerged in the 1880s and 1890s
that allowed brands to use multi-
ple colors and have more detailed
images. Brass and aluminum were
incorporated for gold or silver labels.
Although the salmon was local,
the label designs usually weren’t. A
lot of artists in San Francisco, Phil-
adelphia or New York made them
for individual brands. Because of
this, the labels are often a window
into what people’s perceptions of the
Northwest were at the time.
Many illustrations include classic
images of fi shermen, their boats and
gear, lighthouses and other local geo-
graphical landmarks highlighting the
Northwest.
However, these landmarks weren’t
always very accurate. Many show
oddly-shaped versions of Mt. Hood,
Mount St. Helens or lighthouses visi-
ble from unlikely perspectives off the
coast.
Images of American Indians were
also common, with some being more
accurate than others. In an attempt to
capture the Northwest mysticism that
The shipping department of a salmon canning establishment in Astoria in 1904.
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Early versions of salmon labels were
red to hide rust spots from the canning
process.
so many Americans on the East Coast
idealized, many canneries co-opted
images of Plains or Northwest Indian
tribes to sell their salmon.
Pictures of the fi sh itself got more
realistic as time went on. Apparently,
in the early years there were few art-
ists who knew what a salmon looked
like. According to historian Jack
Edwards, when fi guring out how old
a salmon label is, “the uglier the
salmon, the older the label is.”
Eventually the images became
more realistic and designers posi-
tioned them in a more active role
on the label than sitting passively
beneath the brand’s name. It’s com-
mon to see the fi sh jumping through
the air or out of the water in later
iterations.
Labels varied widely depend-
ing on where they were being sold.
Some grocery stores would actually
contract with Columbia River can-
neries to custom-label the cans with
their name. The idea was that their
customers would be more likely
to buy the salmon with local name
recognition.
A combination of declining
salmon runs and competition from
other areas led to the majority of can-
neries being shut down by the end of
the 1970s. The salmon labels live
on as a testament to the Columbia
River canneries’ national and global
infl uence.
Julia Triezenberg is an educa-
tor at the Columbia River Maritime
Museum.
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Salmon labels were designed to be as attractive as possible to potential customers.
Library of Congress
LEFT: Chinook salmon on the fl oor of a cannery in Astoria in 1902. RIGHT: Workers inside an Astoria cannery in 1904.
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Many images of American Indians were co-opted to sell Columbia River salmon.