Reading a post over at Ethicurean about the concentration of tomato processing in California reminded me of a picture in Ed Kee's Saving Our Harvest: The Story of the Mid-Atlantic Region's Canning and Freezing Industry. More than 1,000 independent canning operations were located in the mid-Atlantic at the end of the 19th century, feeding the East Coast. (Ed is an extention agent at the University of Delaware who generously gave me a copy of the book).
The photo above is of tomato trucks lined up in front of Campbell Soup Co. plant in Camden, N.J., in 1933 -- yes, this was the Garden State until the garden moved West. Here's one of the many labels in the book:
- Samuel Fromartz
I'm sure there were scenes just like this in front of the H.J. Heinz plant in Pittsburgh, featuring Pennsylvania grown tomatoes back in the day. As a matter of fact, there is an heirloom variety of tomato seed, called "Heinz (number)" that used to be the preferred tomato, grown specifically for Heinz Ketchup.
Posted by: Farmer Troy | December 03, 2008 at 08:33 AM