I Have Seen The Ruins Of Meat Packing In Chicago
The End Of The Road... I toured the meat packing district of Chicago in 1975. Nothing was left but streets and curbs, a rusty vertical structure or two, tall grass, some concrete rubble, and most notably, the stink of manure. I suspect that the land had no economic value (and still doesn't) because they can't get rid of the smell. The El line serving the yards, a branch line heading west along 40th street, was torn down in 1956. The last animal had been slaughtered in 1971.
Meat packing in the 1940-60s moved to new smaller plants built in county seats in Iowa and Minnesota. These new plants were a lot more sanitary than the Victorian horrors they replaced, described by Sinclair Upton in his 1906 novel The Jungle. The wages were lower, and the workers were less feisty and much more likely to be native-born Americans.
I doubt that the Chicago yards could have been sanitary. The idea of eating Spam or corned beef or bacon prepared in such a place utterly disgusted me, although during my boyhood, my mother served us a lot of bacon and some Spam. I have no idea whether any of it had been packed in Chicago. Before home refrigeration became standard in the 1940s, our ancestors had to eat cured or canned meat, or fresh meet bought from a neighbourhood butcher and cooked on the same day. I conclude that the everyday home fridge defeated Armour and Swift, who in 1900 had been two of the greatest industrial combines in the USA.
Meat packing in the 1940-60s moved to new smaller plants built in county seats in Iowa and Minnesota. These new plants were a lot more sanitary than the Victorian horrors they replaced, described by Sinclair Upton in his 1906 novel The Jungle. The wages were lower, and the workers were less feisty and much more likely to be native-born Americans.
I doubt that the Chicago yards could have been sanitary. The idea of eating Spam or corned beef or bacon prepared in such a place utterly disgusted me, although during my boyhood, my mother served us a lot of bacon and some Spam. I have no idea whether any of it had been packed in Chicago. Before home refrigeration became standard in the 1940s, our ancestors had to eat cured or canned meat, or fresh meet bought from a neighbourhood butcher and cooked on the same day. I conclude that the everyday home fridge defeated Armour and Swift, who in 1900 had been two of the greatest industrial combines in the USA.
70-79, M