General Mills Sperry Flour Division had experienced an increase in business, because of the Centennial fire. The company had steadily expanded throughout the years, but experienced a boom last year. Sperry was able to corner the market in national sales and international exports. Interior view of Sperry Flour plant, modern equipment allows them to process more of their products to fill the higher demands.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Grains--Tacoma; Grain industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Grain elevators--Tacoma; Remodeling--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma);

Exposure of Nalley's 1952 Daffodil parade float with posing attendants at Nalley Valley. The Nalley float was titled "A Kings Castle," in keeping with the 1952 "King Alfred" theme. In 1923, The US Department of Agriculture suggested replacing the Puyallup Valley's dead and diseased hop crop with commercial bulbs and the reign of King Alfred began. Puyallup Valley soon became the world's top producer of daffodil bulbs. "Bulb Sunday" was born in 1926, when socialites were invited to go from field to field viewing the different varieties of daffodils. The tradition was going strong by 1932 when 80 - 100,000 people thronged the roads on "Bulb Sunday." It was discontinued in 1934 due to traffic congestion and the parade was suggested by Tacoma photographer Lee Merrill to take its place. ("A History of Pierce County, Washington" Vol. 1)

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Nalley's float in the 1952 Daffodil Parade makes the turn from 9th onto Pacific Ave. Nalley's won the second place award in the commercial division. Royalty is well represented on this float because the 1952 theme was "Alfred in Wonderland, " with reference to the King Alfred Daffodil- Puyallup Valley's most famous export. More than 1,000,000 blossoms were used in the parade which took more than four hours to complete from starting point in Tacoma until its termination in Sumner. (TNT 4-5-1952, pg. 1)

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Group shot of about 20 men at General Mills. The men are standing & kneeling behind a banner advertising General Mills cereals Cheerios, Kix and Wheaties.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Grain industry--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma);

Interior exposure of Nalley display with one woman by table filled with Nalleys products. Products also on shelves behind her. Nalley products featured are potato chips, mayonnaise, lumberjack syrup, chili and spaghetti dinner.

Nalleys, Inc. (Tacoma)--Products; Grocery stores--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Nalley's returned to the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup in 1952 with their recognizable display booth. The name, Nalley's, is spelled out in large letters over a slight awning with cut outs of people holding oversized Nalley products.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Western Washington Fair (Puyallup); Fairs--Puyallup--1940-1950; Merchandise displays--Puyallup; Condiments; Canned foods;

Mechanization could relieve men from heavy labor in the loading dock at the Sperry Mill. One man moves bags of flour from a rotating delivery platform to a wooden pallet. A man with a fork-lift can transport the flour directly to the loading dock at the Sperry Ocean Dock. Ordered by General Mills.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Grain industry--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma);

A workman stands by the switchboard for the controls and weighing machine at Tacoma Vegetable Oil Company. Ordered by Westinghouse Electric Supply Company, Vern Hodgins.

Tacoma Vegetable Oils, Inc. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960; Westinghouse Electric Supply Co. (Tacoma);

School children scramble aboard the "Nalley Town Express" on March 9, 1967, to attend the dedication and ribbon cutting of the new Nalley Tour Auditorium. Nalley's started their regularly scheduled plant tours that day and the first tour group was a class of 16 girls from Annie Wright Seminary. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-3 p.m. were set aside at the plant for group tours. Photograph ordered by Nalley's. (TNT 3-12-67, A-23)

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Dedications--Tacoma--1960-1970; School children--Tacoma--1960-1970; Buses--Tacoma--1960-1970;

ca. 1931. Tacoma Grain Company, Pyramid Flour plant in Tacoma photographed from a boat on Puget Sound.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grain Industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Tacoma Grain Co. (Tacoma); Pyramid Flour (Tacoma)

ca. 1931. An employee at the Tacoma Grain Company apparently bagging grain for the Washington State Grain Inspectors.

Tacoma Grain Co. (Tacoma); Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grain industry--Tacoma--1930-1940

ca. 1931. A male employee at the Tacoma Grain Company holds a large filter that is used in the nearby grain sifter. This photograph was taken circa 1931.

Tacoma Grain Co. (Tacoma); Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grain industry--Tacoma--1930-1940;

ca. 1931. Two men in the quality control lab at Tacoma Grain Company do chemical tests on the flour being produced. A bag of Centennial silk-sfted flour sits on the lab bench.

Tacoma Grain Co. (Tacoma); Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Grain industry--Tacoma--1930-1940; Laboratories--Tacoma--1930-1940

Nalley's Inc. Pickle barrels. Rows of wide barrels stand in an open factory. Barrels in the foreground are full of pickles while those in the background are empty. Foam on top of the pickles and brine follow the gridlines of the nets protecting the pickles. Open beams are overhead and windows line the far wall.

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

Marcus Nalley, founder of Nalley's Inc., and L. Evert Landon, long-time employee, expanded their product line with the L & N Pickle Company. In 1941, a pickle factory was the first of many buildings built on the company's newly acquired l0-acre site in the Center Street District, now Nalley Valley. Women on the pickle assembly line pack cucumbers into glass jars for processing, capping and labeling as Nalley's "Treasure Pickles".

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Assembly-line methods--Tacoma; Pickles; Women--Tacoma--1940-1950; Bottles;

In this photograph taken for Nalley's Inc. in 1946, an unidentified employee uses a dip net to transfer pickles from a large wooden vat to a wooden crate. The forklift in the background will be used to move the crate of pickles to the canning line where they will be put in glass jars. For over 60 years, Nalley's produced pickles at their plant in Nalley Valley. In 2002 Dean Foods, the company that purchased Nalley's pickle operation, shut down the pickle plant in Tacoma.

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Hoisting machinery;

Merchandise display in L.E. Landon's office at Nalley's, Inc. L.E. Landon was president of Nalley's at this time. The display includes cans and bottles of Lumberjack Syrup, bottles of pickle relish, pickles, salad dressing, mayonnaise, Tang, french dressing, mustard, and peanut butter, and cans of shoestring potatoes, beef stew, chili con carne, rice dinner, spaghetti dinner and spaghetti and meat. Bags of the company's first product, potato chips, hang in the middle along with bags of Krun-cheese and pop corn.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma)--Products; Food--Tacoma--1950-1960; Food industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Visiting teachers from Oakland munch on potato chips as they tour the Nalleys plant.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Food--Tacoma--1950-1960; Food industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Potato chips; Teachers--Oakland--1950-1960;

In December of 1950, an unidentified worker was photographed on the floor of the Tacoma Vegetable Oils, Inc., half-million dollar copra processing plant. The plant had recently opened on the McCormick Dock at 535 Dock Street. Copra is dried coconut meat that yields coconut oil. The plant digested the copra and extracted the oil. The oil would go to manufacturers in Chicago, Cincinnati, Boston and other eastern cities. The remaining meal was used locally for cattle feed. The plant was able to process 100 tons of copra a day with three machines. E.L. Westenhaver was vice-president and manager of Tacoma Vegetable Oils, Inc., which closed in the mid-1960s. Ordered by Westinghouse Electric Supply, Verne Hoggers. (TNT, 3/19/1950, p.A-9)

Tacoma Vegetable Oils, Inc. (Tacoma); Factories--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Interior view of Nalley's exhibit at Puyallup Fair. Nalley's had a very large exhibition booth at the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup whose design remained basically the same for several years. In September, 1951, Nalley's Beef Stew was the featured advertised product, "the meatiest stew you ever tasted". Previous years had seen Tang Salad Dressing and Lumberjack Syrup take center stage. Potato chips and cucumber chips were also on display in 1951. On the long balcony above the exhibit booth were cutouts of people holding onto various Nalley products including Shoestring potatoes, Pure Mayonaise, Treasure Pickles and Lumberjack Syrup.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Exhibit booths--Puyallup; Western Washington Fair (Puyallup); Fairs--Puyallup--1950-1960; Merchandise displays--Puyallup; Canned foods;

A shopping cart has been filled to the brim with Nalley's candies with posters for "Nalley's Trick or Treat Candies" for Halloween.

Food industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma)--Products; Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Candy--Tacoma--1950-1960; Holidays--Tacoma;

A worker at Wesley Crawford & Son examines an oil mist lubrication machine in November, 1951. According to the 1951 City Directory, the company was listed as a produce commission merchant. It was a fresh fruit and vegetable packing company.

Wesley Crawford & Son (Tacoma); Machinery; Packaging; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;

In 1900 Puget Sound Flouring Company was turning out flour on the waterfront between North 8th and 10th Streets. Later in the century General Mills (Sperry Division) bought up the Puget Sound company and maintained the main mill on the waterfront. A farm service division was located at 5446 South Washington. Here large bags of flour are being loaded onto a ship at the Sperry Ocean Dock. Ordered by General Mills. (TNT, 2/14/1950, p.A-14)

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Hoisting machinery; Grain industry--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Sperry Ocean Dock (Tacoma); Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Flour being shipped by Economic Corporation Administration on Wolouine State, Acme News Pictures.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Washington Co-operative farmers' Association's new feed mill has taken about two years of construction and will officially open in March 1949. The building is 12 stories high, it cost approximately $1,500,000 to built. The new feed mill was built on 8-1/2 acres of the Hylebos waterway, this new mill will service all of southwest Washington and its feeds will be distributed to all of the Washington Co-operative branch stations and farm service stores throughout the state. Interior view of new facilities.

Food storage buildings--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Mills--Tacoma; Farming--Tacoma; Food industry--Tacoma; Washington Cooperative Farmers' Association (Tacoma);

The Washington Co-op feed mill is one of the country's finest and most modern feed mills. Russell Rathbone, Director of Operations for the association stated it is the most modern feed mill west of the Mississippi. The new mill is very efficient and has the most efficient milling operations. Interior view of the feed mill, the feed mill has storage bins with a total capacity of 15,000 tons.

Food storage buildings--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Mills--Tacoma; Farming--Tacoma; Food industry--Tacoma; Washington Cooperative Farmers' Association (Tacoma);

In 1949 Nalley's had been a stable part of Tacoma's industries for more than thirty years; the company had been referred to as, one of Tacoma's "payroll builders". The company's plant had modern food processing buildings; they were expanding in order to keep up with the growing demands for their products. Interior view of plant; view of machinery used in processing the Nalley's food products.

Food industry--Tacoma; Containers; Machinery; Equipment; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Assembly-line methods--Tacoma; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

Nalley's Incorporated was founded in Tacoma in 1918, Nalley's has gained an impressive reputation in the food industry; pickles, potato chips and salad dressings are just a few of the food items they produce in their line of well known products. Nalley's maintains a high quality control with all of the products, this helps to achieve the great tastes and flavors in their products. Interior view of plant; view of containers where the food items are processed and produced.

Food industry--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Containers; Assembly-line methods--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

Nalley's has always maintained a consistent building and development program; the company was expanding throughout Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest. In later years the company would acquire other food processing plants. In Tacoma, the company would begin expanding throughout the industrial area and continue operations at the company's original plant located on Puyallup Avenue. Interior view of Nalley's; view of machinery in food processing department.

Food industry--Tacoma; Machinery; Equipment; Containers; Assembly-line methods--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma);

Potato chip and popcorn factroy, Nalley's, Henry Willis. Another view of four lines of women peeling potatoes, onions and carrots for one of Nalley's products, probably canned stew. In the background cans are being filled with the product and men are emptying a large tub of the product into the can filling machine.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Food--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Assembly-line methods--Tacoma--1940-1950; Women--Tacoma--1940-1950; Canned foods; Canneries--Tacoma--1940-1950;