Tony Ricono posing with various food service products.

Exterior of Sperry Flour Milling Co.

Sperry Flour Milling Co. (Tacoma);

Several interiors at Wes Crawford's tomato packing plant, Wesley Crawford & Son, Wes Crawford. A view of the packing area of the plant. Stacks of empty wooden packing crates, many ten to twelve high, are seen around the large work area. Labels on the crates advertise "Texas Ranger" globe tomatoes, "Texas Tomatoes", "Big G", "Clouds Rest", "La Chinita",and "High Color".

Wesley Crawford & Son (Tacoma)--Employees; Packaging; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Several interiors at Wes Crawford's tomato packing plant, Wesley Crawford & Son, Wes Crawford. A view of the interior of the business offices at the packing facilities. Desks for four employees are open behind a wide counter. A separate office with a door and glass open to the general work area is towards the back. Two women and a young man are seated at the desks and an older gentleman is talking on the telephone in the back office.

Wesley Crawford & Son (Tacoma)--Employees; Packaging; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Offices--Tacoma--1940-1950; Office furniture; Office workers--Tacoma--1940-1950;

View of Marcus Nalley, the founder of Nalley's Incorporated, cutting into the 31st Nalley's Birthday cake; Nalley's President, L. Evert Landon is standing behind him; a "Tang" salad dressing sign is hanging below the cake table (T.N.T., 8/25/49, p. 34).

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Anniversaries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Landon, L. Evert; Nalley, Marcus; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma)--Commemoration;

Nalley's invited friends and family to help celebrate their 31st anniversary with a tour of the facilities followed by a buffet of Nalley's foods. Guests are mingling and enjoying Nalley's fine foods in this section of the buildings. (T.N.T., 8/25/49, p. 34).

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Industrial facilities--Tacoma; Food--Tacoma; Celebrations--Tacoma--1940-1950; Anniversaries--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma)--Commemoration;

A man stands at a switch near the electric contol panels at Tacoma Vegetable Oils, Inc., plant. Electrical conduit is seen along the interior walls of the building. The plant digested copra (dried coconut meat) 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. Ordered by Westinghouse Electric Supply, Verne Hoggers. (TNT, 3/19/1950, p.A-9)

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

A display rack filled with candy from Nalley's Inc. By 1969 the company processed 200 different food items. Ordered by Mrs. Hildreth.

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

Extended shot of Nalley's facilities taken across the tracks on August 25, 1950. Several buildings on Nalley's show the growth of the company which began in 1918. By 1950, Nalley's had become a $10,000,000 business with such diverse products as potato chips, mayonaise, "Tang" and "Lumber Jack Syrup".

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Food industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Industrial facilities--Tacoma;

Exterior exposure of Nalley's Sales Department building. Taken on a rare rainy day in August, 1950, a Dodge delivery truck with Nalley signs painted on can be seen outside the Nalley's Sales Department building on South Lawrence. Painted white, the building has two floors and is made of cement block. Signs on the building state that Nalley's is a wholesale distributor of food specialties.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma); Nalley's Sales Department (Tacoma);

Machinery at Wesley Crawford & Sons, U.P. Freight Terminal, Mr. Crawford. Wesley Crawford was president of Mutual Fruit Co. Seven women are working at a conveyor system packing fruit.

Wesley Crawford & Son (Tacoma)--Employees; Farm produce--Tacoma; Packaging; Shipping--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Sperry Flour Co. Sperry Flour Co. has gone through regular expansion in order to remain one of the top three flour mills in Tacoma. Exterior view of plant where flour gets loaded into train cars.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Railroad freight cars--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Ray Seger, chef, and wife Eunice, package green lima beans with ham at the new Magic Foods, Inc. frozen food plant in Tacoma. Seger's recipes are incorporated into chicken a la king, chili con carne, beef hash, and baked beans which are cooked, packaged and frozen as ready-to-serve items for restaurants and markets. Magic Foods' slogan is: "Just heat 'em..n' eat 'em." (T.Times, 7/30/1943, p.11 and TNT 7/29/1943, p. 24)

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Magic Foods, Inc. (Tacoma); Seger, Ray; Seger, Eunice;

Magic Foods Store. Employees at work in the commercial kitchen. Three stations are shown. One man is checking on a large cooker, two are stirring large pots, another is moving beans down a slanted tray, one is cutting potatoes, a woman cuts meat and another man is moving a tray. Large windows line one wall of the kitchen. (T.Times, 7/30/1943, p.11)

Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Magic Foods, Inc. (Tacoma);

O'Connell-Ragan, Carstens fleet of trucks at plant, Corey Wilbur. Carstens added refrigerated trucks to their fleet. Glenn Gray, supervisor of Carstens sausage sales, packs a delivery basket with sausages, ham, and other wrapped items from the air conditioned compartments to fill an order. The entire truck interior was lined with separate compartments. The temperature was maintained at 34 - 38 degrees. (T.Times, 6/18/1947, p.7)

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Meat; Sausages--Tacoma--1940-1950; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gray, Glenn;

On May 15, 1947, employees of the Carstens Packing Company gathered around their new Kartridg-Pack machine. Some of the women were working on the sausage packing line, while other employees were admiring the end product. The new machinery packed the wieners side-by-side, bound together by paper loops instead of the usual method of stringing them tail-to-tail. The Kartridge-Pack had the ability to pack 3,200 pounds of wieners per 8 hour shift. (T.Times, 5/21/1947, p.7)

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Frankfurters--Tacoma--1940-1950; Publicity; Bundling (Packing)--Tacoma--1940-1950;

General Mills produced over 12,900 barrels of flour per day, their output had doubled in just five years. They were one of the oldest flour mills in the Pacific Northwest. The Tacoma plant handled most of the international exporting. Interior view of storage building with thousands of sacks of Sperry flour stacked up.

Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Grains--Tacoma; Bags; Food storage buildings--Tacoma; Storage facilities--Tacoma; General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma);

Tomato packing machine, machine for making card board containers, Mutual Fruit Company, Union Pacific Freight Terminal, Les Crawford. One man watches to be sure the tomatoes are properly fed into the packing machine and another man watches to be sure they are wrapped correctly coming out of the machine before packing the cartons into wooden crates.

Mutual Fruit Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Packaging; Machinery; Conveying systems--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fruit--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tomatoes--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fruit industry--Tacoma--1940-1950;

General Mills supervisors, Mr. Meinecke, Sperry Flour Division. Eight men from the Sperry Flour plant in their work clothes and one men in a business suit in this photograph taken on May 3, 1948. All but one of them wears a hat. At the far left is John W. Geddis. Mr. Geddis was a management trainee in 1948 which involved rotating through various training and supervisory assignments. He later became head of all General Mills Production and Distribution west of the Rocky Mountains. (Additional identification & information provided by a reader)

General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); Flour & meal industry--Tacoma; Mills--Tacoma; Employees--Tacoma--1940-1950; Geddis, John W.;

Interior view of General Mills Sperry Division plant in Tacoma. In 1947 the company had decided to expand their facilities. Sperry Flour products were exported throughout the world and shipped throughout the United States, the company was producing over 12,000 barrels of flour per day in order to fill the world's needs.

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);

New Ford truck at Carstens' garage, Titus Motor Company, Henry Zachow. Titus Motor Company was the authorized Ford Truck distributor in the Tacoma area. Carstens had a large fleet of trucks not all of which were Fords. They had at least two refrigerated trucks built on Chevrolet chassis.

Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Trucks--Tacoma--1940-1950; Ford trucks;

Washington Co-op's new feed mill would be one of the finest and most modern feed mills ever constructed. The building was built in Tacoma Tideflats area, at the Hylebos waterway, built over 8-1/2 acres. The mill would have access to the most efficient transportation, including all transcontinental railroads and any sound or ocean going vessels. Interior view of feed mill, machinery and feed equipment is ready for the official opening of facility.

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

The feed mill was conveniently located on the Hylebos waterway, the Washington Co-op would later add a large dock which would provide water transportation. The feed mill had 110 foot tall elevators, 18 feet in diameter, these grain elevators had a capacity of 276,000 bushels of grain. Interior view of the new feed mill facilities, located at 1801 Taylor Way in Tacoma.

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

Washington Co-operative Farmers' Association new feed mill had an innovative pre-mix system. The pre-mix system would mix vitamins and rare minerals and incorporate them into the mixing lines of poultry and dairy feeds. The pre-mix system would operated using the same type of Marchen feeders and equipment already installed at the mill. Interior view of new agricultural facility.

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

The new Washington Co-operative Farmers' Association feed mill was being served by the Tacoma Belt Line, giving access to all transcontinental railroads. There were currently four railroad lines set up, more would be added in the future. Interior view of new feed mill, the machinery and equipment is numbered, the plant is expected to being its operations in its new building in March 1949.

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

Potato chip and popcorn factory, Nalley's, Henry Willis. A group portrait of twenty-one employees from Nalley's, eighteen women and three men, posed at work on August 25, 1948. They all wear aprons and/or uniforms. During work periods on the assembly-line the staff wore white caps.

Nalley's, Inc. (Tacoma)--Employees; Food--Tacoma--1940-1950; Food industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Women--Tacoma--1940-1950; Group portraits;

Potato chip and popcorn factory, Nalley's, Henry Willis. Many women are at work at several different work stations in the assembly-line system used at Nalley's in cooling, bagging, and preparing the potato chips for shipment. A separate facility was built on part of the 15-acre tract on South Tacoma Way for the manufacture of potato chips. The chip plant in Spokane had reached its capacity and still the demand was high. This new plant was the home of one of the subsidiary companies, United Foods, Inc. TPL-9607

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

Four or Five displays at plant, Nalley's, Jack Walrath. Nalley's displayed their "Lumber Jack Syrup" in two glass-bottle sizes: wide-mouth quart jars and smaller jars with smaller, pourable tops. Cartons that the syrup was shipped in are used to make the display.

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

Merchandise display at the Winthrop Hotel, Evergreen Room, in July of 1952. Nalley's celebrated not only their successful line, but also their solid blue collar labor pedigree by displaying the various unions of its employees. Nalley products pictured are Lumberjack Syrup, Mayonnaise, Potato chips, honey, ketchup, salad dressing, relish, pickles, mustard, shoestring potatoes, "Esquire Sauce," and canned meals.

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

A White tank truck for Larro Feeds is parked in the parking lot of Gereral Mills Inc., Sperry Division, along Schuster Parkway near Sixth. Sperry Mills grain storage elevators are seen in the background.

General Mills, Inc., Sperry Division (Tacoma); White trucks--Tacoma; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Flour & meal industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Shipping--Tacoma--1950-1960;