Industrial film. The British Columbia salmon industry. The province's salmon runs. The work of fishing vessels and their crews. The B.C. Packers cannery at Steveston: salmon being unloaded at the dock; cannery operations and processes (including brief shots of an "Iron Chink" salmon butchering machine); cannery workers (lunchroom, housing, other amenities); canning of salmon. Concluding scene of a family dinner.

Documentary. Life cycle of the sockeye salmon, especially their return to the headwaters of the Fraser River to spawn. Shows efforts of scientists and engineers to facilitate the salmon run, and the contribution of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. Includes shots of fishing boats setting their nets, cannery operations, Vancouver's Chinatown, salmon fighting the rapids at Hells Gate, and the development of fish ladders or fishways to aid the salmon.

Industrial film. A comprehensive look at the B.C. salmon industry, including the salmon run; fishing techniques; salmon species; Nass and Skeena River migrations; Hells Gate fishways; cannery operations. Concludes with a cooking demonstration, showing methods of preparing and serving salmon.

Amateur film. Shot by CBC Vancouver radio producer Imbert Orchard during a visit to the Queen Charlotte Islands and the Skeena region, the footage includes views of: a coastal community on the Queen Charlottes [Masset or Queen Charlotte City]; Prince Rupert harbour; a fish cannery interior; Port Essington (before it burned down the second time); and views on the Skeena River, including Cedarvale, an Indian village (Kitseguecla?), and Hazelton.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Stan May RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-02-18 SUMMARY: Stan May first started out in the cannery business at 15 years old at Walkers Lake. There was just a little cabin with a stove. You would light the stove and put the wet mattresses around it to dry and then put the mattress on your bed. He was a very "homesick boy" who was used to being around a big family. The next year he went to Namu, and put in four years there as an apprentice machinist. Then took a job as a full fledged lineman when he was 22 on the Nass River. It was a small cannery, just two lines but good experience. The cannery was run by a steam engine. Would put in four months on the Nass River, then come south and work at American Can overhauling machinery during the winter. Did that for quite a few years then switched companies and came to Canadian Fish in 1939. Went to Carlile Cannery on the Skeena River. Would go up in the spring and drive piles, work on machinery. Put in seven months a season. Got $150.00 a month and board with electricity. He would put $100.00 a month in the bank and at the end of the season walk away with $700.00. He had his wife and two small children with him. When the War came along they started working all year round. Worked one year at Phoenix Cannery in 1942. It was the biggest sockeye salmon run in the Fraser River. Remembers a seine boat leaving one morning at 7 am and they were back in at 4 pm and had made $1,200.00 per man. In those days he was making $6.75 a day and working 16 hour days. There was no union or overtime; you just worked for a monthly rate. Unions. Foreman at age 27. Did cold storage, reduction plant, herring and salmon. His kids needed educations so they moved to Richmond where he got a job at A.B.C. Packing Company at Phoenix cannery, as a lineman again. Within 3 months he was made foreman. Stayed at Phoenix for 26 years. Liked working for Phoenix. Discusses modern methods and equipment. Speaks on the discrimination of the Indians and Chinese in the 1930s.

SUMMARY: "Best Seat In The House" was a weekly series of Kunstkopf programs, produced in stereo. This episode, "Steveston", is a dramatic documentary in verse and prose by the well-known West coast poet Daphne; Marlatt. It is a sound portrait of the waterfront community of Steveston, BC -- its history, people, fishing industry, canneries and Japanese heritage. Recorded on the location in the spring of 1976;, with a narrative by the author. The voices heard include Walter Marsh, Rae Brown, Bill Buck, Merv Campone, Lillian Carlson, Robert Clothier, Catherine Croll, Peg Dixon, James Johnston, Jan Mortil, H;.S. Olson, Sam Payne, Al Pearce, Susan Ringwood, Eric Schneider, Shannon Shepherd, and David Stein. Source material was provided by the Aural History Programme at the Provincial Archives of British Co;lumbia.;

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Tanehei Inana : a Japanese fish buyer RECORDED: Steveston (B.C.), 1972-04-18 SUMMARY: Tanehei Inana was born in 1910 and came to Canada at about age 25. He moved to Steveston where his uncle had been living for 30 years. His uncle found him a job as fish collector. Before WWII, fish buyers did not belong to canneries. Tanehei Inana worked in a road camp because he was a Japanese national. He went to Alberta to work for a big ranch which he enjoyed. In 1950 he returned to Steveston and became a fish buyer again, working for B.C. Packers Ltd.

Industrial film. Shows purse-seining for herring and pilchards off the BC coast, including the different seining methods used. Pilchards (i.e., Pacific sardines) are caught on the open Pacific by the seiner "Tatchu" and the tender "Westisle". Herring seining footage includes use of echo sounder and "feeling wire" to locate herring schools. Seining in a coastal inlet with the seiner "Southisle" and the tender "Wawanesa". Cannery operations.

Industrial film. "The film opens with this caption: 'This is the inside story of an important Canadian industry and of a domestic commodity that ranks among the chief products annually exported from the Dominion.'. . . . Scenes include salmon being brought up in a net and dumped into the hold of a boat. . . . CU salmon squirming in the hold. Boats leaving a large cannery town. Two fishermen jump into a large holding area, where the salmon are being kept on ice, and pitch them through a slot into the cannery. CU fish on ice. Interior of cannery -- two rows of girls with white aprons and hats processing the fish. CU cans rolling down a wire framework . . . . CU cans being lifted by machines. CU cans being labelled. . . . Back to first operation of cannery: a hatch is opened and fish spill out into a trough of running water. MS trough with conveyor belt. . . . Interior of plant showing salmon being gutted, cleaned, headed and tailed by machine. Salmon spill out . . . onto conveyor belts. CU fish being inspected. Shot of girls cleaning salmon manually then placing them on the conveyor belt again. . . . Fish are placed in conveyor buckets which carry them to the slicer. CU slicer. Slices exiting and being packed by girls into cans. . . . Open cans move along belts to be inspected, weighed, etc. CU machines placing and clinching lids. . . . Cans move along belt to sorting department where Japanese workers place them on large trays and wheel them into huge ovens. . . . CU valve turning on the steam. . . . Back of ovens with man checking machinery. . . . CU tins being weighed. Man puncturing tin for a vacuum reading. . . . CU machines testing texture and men inspecting colour etc. with microscope. . . . Shipping room - girls pack tins from trays into cardboard boxes and men wheel boxes to storeroom. A woman in a modern kitchen opens a tin of salmon. She breaks the chunk of salmon apart on a china plate. . . . More shots of cooked salmon in several combinations." (Colin Browne)

Industrial film. British Columbia's salmon fishing industry. Includes footage of: sport fishing; salmon runs; map of fishing grounds on Pacific coast; fleet of gillnetters at work off the coast; cannery operations; the canned product with colourful labels[spliced-in silent colour section]; the felling and milling of lumber for shipping boxes; quality control laboratory; loading product onto a freighter. Includes footage of an "Iron Chink" salmon butchering machine.

Amateur film. Coastal people, places and scenery between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Includes footage of Indian villages, pictographs, birds and wildlife, logging operations, other vessels, etc. One sequence shows a Kelly raft of aviation spruce being broken up; another shows logs being unloaded from the log barge "Monongahela" (formerly the ship "Balasore", whose figurehead is shown sitting on shore). The B.C. Packers cannery at Quathiaski Cove is shown. Troops arrive at Nanaimo from Vancouver on the "Princess Victoria" and parade through the streets.

CALL NUMBER: T2397:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A Japanese-Canadian account of her pregnancy and working in a cannery PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1930 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1974 SUMMARY: Mrs. Maeda's family and jobs in Japan. Boat trip to Canada. Life and experiences in Steveston, B.C. CALL NUMBER: T2397:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A Japanese-Canadian's reminiscence of life in Japan and immigration PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1930 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1974 SUMMARY: Mrs. Maeda's pregnancy. Working in the cannery at Steveston, B.C. Visiting Japan with child. CALL NUMBER: T2397:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A Japanese-Canadian's childhood, fishing and cannery jobs PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1930 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1974 SUMMARY: Mrs. Maeda's childhood in Japan. Discusses her friendships in Canada. Talks about fishing and cannery jobs near Seattle. CALL NUMBER: T2397:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A Japanese-Canadian's life in Japan during World War II PERIOD COVERED: 1930-1945 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1974 SUMMARY: Mrs. Maeda discusses: her husband's fishing; her housework; husband's illness; life in Japan during World War II; and the death of her husband. (End of interview)

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Tom and Vera Parkin RECORDED: Richmond (B.C.), 1976-01-28 SUMMARY: Tom was born in Vancouver and entered the fishing industry prior to WWII. Following War he became the organizer for the U.F.A.W.U. Spent 7 years in the north as North Representative for the Union. Returned to Vancouver in the late 1950s as Public Relations Director to campaign against dams on the Fraser. Union improved income, vacation with pay, etc. as well as dealt with the racial inequalities felt by the Japanese, Chinese and First Nations. In 1945 the U.F.A.W.U. emerged from the amalgamation of the previous unions. 1946 passed resolutions allowing Japanese back into the Union. Canneries all up and down the coast have disappeared. Only Sunnyside and Port Edwards up the coast remained in 1976. Originally agreements were reached with each company on an individual basis. He used to carry a binder of agreements in 1950. Later the companies formed the Fisheries Association of B.C. and there was one contract for the whole industry. Vera was one of the representatives on a trip to the Soviet Union to help organize international regulations concerning fishing in the North Pacific. She worked in fresh fish operation in Prince Rupert in 1951. Soviets are (1976) far more advanced and mechanized -- no independent fishermen, but mother-ship trawlers and traps. Union organization history. Discusses the future of the industry, and how important it is to the economy of the province.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-03-17 SUMMARY: [No content summary available for this interview.];

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Tofino-Clayoquot : Trygve Arnet RECORDED: [location unknown], 1979 SUMMARY: In an interview with Bob Bossin, Trygve Arnet discusses: his family's arrival in the Tofino area; the Clayoquot Sound cannery; Norwegian background; father rented boats when fishing; father was very good-natured, a skilled carpenter; World War II and the internment of the Japanese community; movement by certain residents of Tofino after the war to keep the Japanese from returning to the coast; father was first mayor in Tofino; musical events; cage around tree that was being trimmed; Fred Tibbs anecdotes; story of Tibbs' death; community picnics he attended as a child.

The item is a composite print of a travelogue from 1961. It showcases scenery, attractions and industries in the Vancouver area. General and aerial views of Vancouver, plus sequences on the harbour, Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, UBC, the Vancouver International Festival and the PNE. Industry is depicted through shots of a sawmill, a fish cannery, a foundry and a shipyard (where the vessel Yukon is launched). Water sports, golf and skiing at Grouse Mountain are shown, as well as Queen Elizabeth Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Granville Street at night and a White Spot drive-in.

Travelogue. Showcases scenery, attractions and industries in the Vancouver area. Good general and aerial views of Vancouver, plus sequences on the harbour, Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, UBC, the Vancouver International Festival and the PNE. Industry is depicted through shots of a sawmill, a fish cannery, a foundry and a shipyard (where the vessel Yukon is launched). Water sports, golf and skiing at Grouse Mountain are shown, as well as Queen Elizabeth Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Granville Street at night and a White Spot drive-in.

Out-takes. Showcases scenery, attractions and industries in the Vancouver area. Good general and aerial views of Vancouver, plus sequences on the harbour, Vancouver International Airport, Stanley Park, UBC, the Vancouver International Festival and the PNE. Industry is depicted through shots of a sawmill, a fish cannery, a foundry and a shipyard (where the vessel Yukon is launched). Water sports, golf and skiing at Grouse Mountain are shown, as well as Queen Elizabeth Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Granville Street at night and a White Spot drive-in.

The file consists of a Christmas card ca. 196-? from Winnifred and Huntley Kirkpatrick to "Jean" that contains 2 photographic print copies of the S.S. Oscar at Wadham's Cannery in Rivers Inlet. The photographs were taken in 1897 by E.A. Wadham, Winnifred Kirkpatricks grandfather.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Walter E. Walker : reminiscences of life in the Nass River region, 1906-1930 PERIOD COVERED: 1906-1930 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1966-05-06 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter E. Walker relates some information about Fishery Bay as a pre-contact trade centre, his background and coming to B.C. in 1906. He speaks about employment in the cannery industry, his position as accountant and later manager at the Port Nelson Cannery on the Nass river, the Nass canneries, Mill Bay, descriptions of locations along the Nass, a story about an Indian slave sacrifice, the Arrandale Cannery, and Nimpkish Lake (Vancouver Island). He describes the visit of Marius Barbeau (1928/30) and Ernest MacMillan, Chief Frank Kdex and his story, music recordings and filming, Emily Carr's visits to the area, reaction to her art and totem poles. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T1291:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-29 & 31 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter Engelhardt talks about May 24 celebrations in Victoria; the sham battle at Queen Victoria's Jubilee 1887; the Point Ellice Bridge disaster in 1896; regattas and incidents involving the Royal Navy; building the Parliament Buildings. TRACK 2: Mr. Engelhardt speaks about the Bird Cages and Birdcage Walk; mud flats and the building of the Empress Hotel; the condition of the streets; butcher shops and grocery stores; the smallpox epidemic; the garbage dump in the mud flats; the Pendray Soap Works; the Songhees Indian reserve; stories about Herman the Magician; the Victoria Theatre and the Pantages Theatre.

CALL NUMBER: T1291:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-29 & 31 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Engelhardt continues with his recollections about the Victoria Theatre; performances of the play "Uncle Tom's Cabin"; theatre life in Victoria; prostitutes; Victoria's families; the Macdonald family; the Dunsmuirs; the Pembertons; the Pearse estate; the Hudson's Bay Company's land policy in British Columbia; subdivision of the Crease estate; the land boom of 1910 to 1912; a Hugo Ross anecdote; Dunsmuir Castle. TRACK 2: Mr. Engelhardt talks about his recollections about the sham battle of the May 24; his job at the City of Victoria collecting water rates; arrival of his mother and grandfather, Captain John Mount Thain, in Victoria in 1862; his father's arrival in 1862, and work as a steamship agent; his father's origins in Austria; Walter Engelhardt's experiences at the canneries at the mouth of the Skeena in 1892; Cunningham; Victoria businessmen; stores in Victoria; Chinese opium manufacturing and trade 1880 to 1890.

CALL NUMBER: T1291:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-29 & 31 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Englehardt recalls the Klondike gold rush; Victoria as a "wide-open town"; his work in the assay office; effects of the "wide-open" policy on Victoria; the "gay nineties" in Victoria; Victoria's boom from 1900 to 1915; wealthy retired people in Victoria; comments about Vancouver and the CPR. [TRACK 2: blank.]

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Slide at Allison's Camp. Ellingsen's camp at Phillips Arm, 1941. Stuart Island. Rock Bay. Blind Channel. His father was an independent logger. Acquiring a hand-logging claim. Logging partnerships. Steam donkey. Comparison of sky-line logging and tight-line logging. Elmer Ellingsen. Travel and amenities on Union Steamships boats. The "Chelhosin". Thurlow Island. The Depression. Cannery, shingle mill and store at Blind Channel. Cannery used as a saltery. Entertainment. People recalled. TRACK 2: Story about community outhouse. Settlement at Roy. Loughborough Inlet. Logging camp characters. Moonshine still at Blind Channel. Old-timers. Suicides common. Anecdotes about machinery. Other camps and characters.

CALL NUMBER: T1194:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Walter Wicks : early years on the lower Skeena River : part 1 PERIOD COVERED: 1901-1922 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter Wicks recounts his arrival at the North Pacific Cannery from Germany (c.1900), his first impressions of the area and recollections of some of the residents of Port Essington. He talks about his life at the cannery, his education, fishing on the Skeena, his family background, living conditions, learning fishing and hunting, fishing spots along the Skeena River, Japanese-Indian-white; relations, fishing incidents, the naming of Hicks Point, fishing methods and grades of salmon. TRACK 2: Mr. Wicks continues speaking about fishing methods, types of salmon, the wastage of salmon, ch;anges in fishing methods, names of the area canneries and steps in the canning process. TRACK 3: [Note: due to a break in a splice on the original tape during dubbing, the remainder of T1194:0001 Track 2 has been continued on Track 3 of the CD copy.]

CALL NUMBER: T1194:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Walter Wicks : early years on the lower Skeena River : part 2 PERIOD COVERED: 1901-1922 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter Wicks recalls his time as a student at the Metlakatla Mission School, incidents at the school, Mrs. Margaret West, training and schooling, the mission at Metlakatla, children's activit;ies and a trip to Victoria. He recounts childhood activities and incidents. TRACK 2: Walter Wicks continues with his recollections about childhood incidents, hunting stories, Indian deer hunting meth;ods, a prank at the North Pacific Cannery, childhood adventures and a landslide at the cannery. He recalls the beginnings of the town site of Prince Rupert, survey parties, early construction progress; at Tucks Inlet, land title problems, the town construction, land clearing (1908-09) and early buildings.

CALL NUMBER: T1194:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Walter Wicks : early years on the lower Skeena River : part 3 PERIOD COVERED: 1901-1922 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter Wicks continues speaking about his experiences working in a land clearing camp on the Prince Rupert town site, living conditions, land conditions, development, workers and the real est;ate auction. He recalls jobs in railroad construction, as a lineman for the Dominion Telegraph line, an anecdote about shaving with an adze, more about railroad construction work and an incident with ;a horse team. He speaks about his family's move to Prince Rupert, Prince Rupert's first water system and utilities. He discusses changes to fishing methods following the introduction of power boats an;d Dr. Curgin -- owner of the first gas engine propelled boat on the Skeena River. TRACK 2: Walter Wicks describes Port Essington, the local canneries, life in the town, Robert Cunningham's business interests, sawmills, social life, George Frizzell and a silent movie presentation. He speaks about law enforcement including: Constable "Keyhole Johnny" (John Herring), the Indian rancherie, the "skook;um house", liquor problems, hotels and saloons, Essington during railway construction and provincial constables -- Harry Berrimen and Jack Collins. Mr. Wicks speaks about the decline of Cunningham's businesses, Bob and George Cunningham, Captain Bonser and a story about a snag scow and "Hunchback Mary".

CALL NUMBER: T1194:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Walter Wicks : early years on the lower Skeena River : part 4 PERIOD COVERED: 1901-1922 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1961-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Walter Wicks continues with his story about a snag scow and "Hunchback Mary". He goes on to talk about Port Essington as an administrative centre, seat of government and Billy Lord, the Anglo; British Columbia Cannery manager. [TRACK 2: blank?]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Roy York RECORDED: Ladner (B.C.), 1976-03-04 SUMMARY: Roy York was born in Vancouver on August 7, 1894, and lived at Central Park. Family moved to Steveston in the early 1900s, his father worked for Joe Steves looking after his cattle. They lived on No. 9 Road (now known as Steveston Highway), and went to school in Steveston. The biggest business in those days in Steveston was the canning industry in summer time. Remembers sailing vessels that used to come into the canneries in the early 1900s. Names canneries and locations. Started at cannery when 14 years old, counting fish. Kept track of different kinds of fish caught. Mostly sockeye salmon; they used to go up the river so thick that you could see them swimming along the wharf. Worked in the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in 1914 as a tally man and worked the Iron Chink. There were thousands of fish going by and the fishermen fished right outside the cannery door. Tells story of belonging to the militia in 1914. Steveston had several hotels and they all flourished in the summer when over 10,000 fishermen came to town. Also, there were seven or eight thousand Indians who lived in huts along the riverbanks. Very few Japanese people then, their numbers were just increasing. The Indians did most of the cannery work then. Describes canning by hand. Chinese would do the cans: put them through the solder machine, tap all the cans, seal them and label them. Made all the cans in the cannery. Describes canning process and steam boxes. Most of the fish went to England in those days. There were only about 4 or 5 white men working in the cannery in those days. Discusses the prices of fish and wages. Discusses the coming of gas engines, with the Japanese taking to them quickly. Chinese population swelled to 10-15 thousand in the summer. When the canneries started buying their cans and using better machinery, the population of the Chinese decreased. Enjoyed working at the cannery in the early 1900s. Poor sanitation and working conditions. Social activities in Steveston in those days.

CALL NUMBER: T1314:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. "Lewie" Young recalls early memories of Victoria; the visit of the Marquis of Lorne; early schooling; May 24 celebrations; the James Bay Athletic Association; the Gorge regatta; sailors o;f the Royal Navy; saloons; hack stands; express wagons; stores; Wharf Street; Government Street; Yates Street; the chain gang; steamers to New Westminster and Yale; water transportation to San Francis;co and Washington State; Esquimalt; the Skinner farm; Royal Roads; Roland Stewart; Hatley Park; the sealing fleet; his father coming out with the ship called the "Ashelstan" that carried St. John's Ir;on Church; his mother's arrival in 1859; recollections of Lady Douglas; Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie; Harry Wootton; Mayor Fell and Mayor Harris. TRACK 2: Mr. Young continues with his recollections ab;out Richard McBride; Walter Engelhardt; politics; the Davie family; the smallpox epidemic; the depression in the 1890s; the Klondike gold rush; Victoria today; changes in Victoria; beginnings of the James Bay Athletic Association; the famous four-oared crew; fishing and hunting in Saanich; swimming at the outer wharf; the Chinook language.

CALL NUMBER: T1314:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Young sings a Chinook song; talks about living at Port Essington; the Peter Herman cannery; canneries along the Skeena; Cunningham Cannery and Wiggs O'Neill. [TRACK 2: blank.]