The pickle industry and railroading
SANBORN MAP COMPANY: WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 1885 (LEFT); BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN, 1886, (RIGHT)
As the Chicago metropolitan area grew, farming and the initial pickle production facilities moved to outlying areas. Woodstock is at mile- post 51.6 on what was the C&NW by 1885, where the Woodstock Canning and Pickling Company (Dingee) had a salting and packing
they planted 34,260 acres, mostly in the counties along Lake Michigan. As the demand for pickles increased, additional salting stations sprang up. In the mid-twenties there were close to 1,000. There was a code of ethics in es- tablishing new stations: ten miles was the minimum distance in rural areas, later reduced to seven-and-a-half miles in 1925 with the growing demand for more cucumbers. In the 1927-28 edition of the Wisconsin State Gazetteer, 87 towns were listed with a salting or processing plant. Many were small operations, where the pickles were collected, salted and packed. The larger packers had sep- arate salting stations. The H. J. Heinz Company had twelve and Squire Dingee had seven. By 1929, the value of pickles in the United States was $34,480,925. Michigan planted 21,000 acres that year with a yield of 29 bushels per acre. Wisconsin planted 11,300 acres yielding 42 bushels an acre. In 1942, Michigan planted 33,000 acres of cucumbers of the national total of 110,310. Wisconsin fol- lowed with 14,400 acres. H. J. Heinz was the market leader, with a gross of between five and ten million dollars. Pickles experienced a tremendous in-
crease in popularity during and after World War II, when the Army pur- chased production to supplement the soldiers’ diets. By 1954 the pickle indus- try was a $150,000,000 business divided among about 250 packers. Chicago had 30, doing an estimated $15,000,000 in sales. That year Wisconsin and Michi- gan harvested 5,200,000 bushels out of a national total of 13,800,000. Although
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station (left). The plant was steam heated and hot water was also needed to process the pickles. Some of the tanks were used for mak- ing vinegar. The Squire Dingee salting station at Benton Harbor, Michigan, (right) consisted of ten tanks and four covered sheds.
sales had risen 400 percent in the past 20 years, it was noted that the pickle business was very sensitive to depres- sions and unemployment. The reason was that the steadiest consumer was the working man who liked a pickle in his lunch box.
Salting stations Alart and McGuire, founded in 1862 in
Green Bay, Wisconsin, was the first com- pany to salt in a large tank. Prior to this, cucumbers were salted in barrels. A typ- ical salting station consisted of a group of wooden tanks constructed of pine or cy- press. The typical size was 8′×8′, hold- ing about 300 bushels, although tanks up to 8′×14′ holding up to 900 bushels were used. There were several compa- nies in the United States who provided kits to construct a tank. Two men could build one in several hours. A platform was built three feet below the top of the tank for easy access for filling and emp- tying. Early and late in the season, when receipts were light, smaller tanks or bar- rels were preferred as they could be filled and covered faster. Every tank had a pump box to ensure
the brine was properly mixed and to take brine samples. They were made of wood, from four to six inches square and extending to the bottom of the tank. Samples were taken at different depths to be certain that the salt con- tent was consistent. If it was too high, it was drawn off from the bottom and refilled with fresh water. The pump box was also used at the end of the season to pump out any remaining brine and drain the tank for winter.
Ideally, the tanks were off the ground
to permit a man to repair the bottom. If this was not practical, cinders were used to promote drainage and keep the ground dry. Just before use each sum- mer the inside of the tank was white- washed and rinsed off. The lime neutral- ized any acid present in the tank. It was found that pickles salted in outdoor tanks and exposed to fresh air and sun- light did not develop a gray yeasty scum common in indoor tanks. Every salting station had a small of-
fice and a salt and tool room used to hold wheelbarrows, nets, scales, sorters and other equipment. In smaller operations, they were combined. The entire complex could be enclosed in a frame building, but usually the tanks were in the open. Slatted crates were the desired method of transporting the cucumbers from the field to the salters, as it re- duced bruising and heating in trans- port. When they were received from the farmer, the cucumbers were weighed and graded into four sizes, washed, and dumped into the respective tanks. Number one grade was gherkins, one to two inches, up to Number 4, four inch- es and over. Up to six inches were ac- cepted, but the price paid was less. Nubbins and crooks were usually re- jected, although some were sliced and chopped and used for relish. In December, 1910, agents from the
Squire Dingee Company solicited local farmers near Waupaca, Wisconsin, promising that if 100 acres were con- tracted for, they would build a salting station. The company would provide the seed, full instructions and pay 50
DECEMBER 2011
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