Life in the Ozarks : Canning factory far cry from canning vegetables
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Though tomatoes get ripe in my garden and canning occurs in the hot summertime, workers at the canning factory in Pea Ridge in the late'30 s and early'40 s worked year-round.
As I filled my canner full of tomatoes, my husband began recalling his childhood memories about working at the canning factory. "There probably isn't anyone left who worked there," he said.
"You worked there," I reminded him. He was just a lad.
Jerry's grandfather had bought the factory; Jerry's dad, Albert, ran it; Albert's brother, Bill, worked there. Brother Fay would have been a teenager and probably helped out. (Their middle brother, Bob, worked in a CCC camp and sent most of the money, paid to him by the government, home to help the family. ) Another brother, Rex, and his wife, Ada, also worked in the factory. The Pea Ridge Canning Factory was the major source of employment for this small town.
Farmers were under contract to grow tomatoes for the factory. They would either bring in their tomatoes or men from the plant drove out to the fields to pick up tomatoes, where pickers had left them on the side of their patches.
In the summer one group of women peeled tomatoes at the factory. Another group of women stood on two sides of a huge vat where men had poured the peeled tomatoes and packed them in cans. They put one salt tablet in each can before sending them down a conveyor chain where a machine put a lid on the cans and sealed them. Men placed packed cans in steel cases, then lowered them in two large pressure cookers, which were filled with boiling water, to finish the process. The cookers were large and likely held thousand of cans.
Jerry and his brother, Vance, who was 3 years older than Jerry, climbed to the second floor. Their job was to send down empty cans through a chute to the ladies working below. Men did the heavy work like bringing buckets to keep the women supplied with hot tomatoes so the peelings would slide off. They then punched cards to keep track of buckets - women were paid by the bucket, probably about 10 cents. Men then carried away the skins.
A man also came early to build a fire to heat water in the boiler. It took lots of water. Jerry recalled one well couldn't furnish enough water, so they had to dig a new well. The pump ran all night to fill the water tower to provide the needed water.
During the winter women were kept busy putting labels on the cans. The label was Battle Brand with a scene on it of the Civil War Men built crates during the winter.
The Putmans lived in the canning factory while their house was being built next door. Even after they moved into their new home they could hear popping as sealed cans cooled off during the night.
Sometimes Jerry's dad would have him sign his name on deliveries. Jerry was the youngest of six boys and he thought his dad might have been partial to him.
After the tomatoes were canned and cooled, a truck would pick them up. Once a driver had cookies in the back of his truck. Jerry told him," I sure would like to have some cookies. "The driver and Jerry negotiated a trade (if his father agreed ), a case of tomatoes for a large box of cookies. Jerry kept those cookies under his bed until he had eaten all of them himself.
Just as there was no air conditioning in the summer, the cars had no heat. In the winter Jerry's dad would let him ride to Springfield with him as he drove up to meet with buyers. Jerry wrapped up in a couple of blankets to keep warm. He and his dad stayed in a hotel near the downtown square. Jerry's dad would give him some money and write on a piece of paper the name of the hotel where they were staying and stick it in the young boy's pocket. Jerry would then go to the movies or just wander around and later return to the hotel to an unworried father.
After the Putmans sold the canning factory they moved to Gravette. That's where I met my husband. We've always grown tomatoes in the summer. This year I told my husband I wanted a smaller garden. So we only planted a dozen tomato plants. But it was a bumper crop and so, in addition to canning them, I've given away the ripe fruit and we've eaten a lot. At times I sure wished I had a canning factory nearby to take them.
Marie Putman is a longtime freelance columnist for The Rogers Hometown News.
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