Last fall I took a short cruise up to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. As I am wont to do, I picked up a book in one of the tourist traps on local history. In this case, it was K. Mack Campbell’s Cannery Village. It’s supposed to be a history of British Columbia’s outlying salmon canneries. Campbell ran the Fisheries Association of Canada, the national trade association of the fishing industry, and prior to that he ran the equivalent organization in British Columbia. He got his start as an accountant in the coastal canneries of B.C, and wanted to see a history of the places and life he loved.
Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with non-writers and non-historians who self-publish, the results of Campbell’s labor of love aren’t all that great. This book is a book of minutia. There isn’t any overall narrative or summary. Much as history doesn’t need to always be taught chronologically, this history would have been served better with such a focus. Campbell would also have done better to give an overview of the canning process. He throws out terms and people very quickly and without any context. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 jumps right into the pieces of a cannery, but doesn’t really put them all together. It’s just a laundry list of the buildings involved. Next chapter is an apology for the racial attitudes of the people working in the canneries. And the next chapter is a laundry list of the canneries that were opened on the coasts of B.C. Kind of notice that it jumps around, don’t you?
I have no idea if there is a better book on the subject. Doubt there are a huge number on the subject of coastal salmon canning in B.C. I’m hoping that if any exist, they are better than this stinker.
Author: K. Mack Campbell (Ken Mack Campbell)
Title: Cannery village: company town
Publisher: Trafford
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 2004
Length: 337 p.
ISBN-10: 1-4120-0965-0
Subject: Salmon canning industry — British Columbia — History
Subject: Canneries — British Columbia — History
NLC classification: HD9469.S23B75 2003
