Dressed sides of beef hanging from hooks in a cold storage locker at Carstens Packing Co. Photograph taken in conjunction with Carsten's Open House, celebrating their 50th anniversary in the meat packing business. In 1903, Seattle butcher and German immigrant Thomas Carstens bought 12 deserted acres on the Tideflats, the former home of the old Pacific Meat Company's plant, and began setting up what would become the largest meat packing plant on the Pacific Coast. The company eventually branched out into three processing plants: Tacoma, Seattle & Spokane. It was a huge operation that raised its own livestock, slaughtered and processed it and sold it in their own retail outlets. The company founder died in 1931 and his sons, Thomas and Philip, took over the business until they sold it in 1954 to Hy-Grade Food Products Corp. of Detroit. Hy-Grade closed the plant in 1990, citing it as out dated and not complying with EPA standards. TPL-8123

Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;

Dressed beef hangs from hooks at the Carstens meat packing plant. The meat is ready for final distribution in this chilled display of choice prime US Government graded Kimberley Fed Beef at Carstens, now part of the Hygrade Food Products Corporation. The meat comes direct from Hygrade's own feed lots. Carstens-Hygrade had served Tacoma for over half a century. In 1956, they employed 350 people in their Tacoma plant. (TNT 9/3/1956, pg. C-5) TPL-8127

Merchandise displays--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma); Meat industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carstens-Hygrade (Tacoma);

Carsten's Packing Company opened in Tacoma in 1903 at 1623 East "J" Street. It became part of Hygrade Food Products in 1954, and closed in 1990. circa 1909.

Circa 1910.