In analyzing the labor situation in the industry, we may begin with the leading group of workmen, the cattle butchers. If, for example, wholesome valley meat company was going to apply its name to a meat product, the company couldnt survive by selling. Aug 04, 2006 the meat packing industry implored the government for the kind of legislation that would renew confidence in meat. Osha injury reporting rule sheds light on meat packing accidents. Probably thinking of a very clean working environment. Railroads made possible the transport of stock to central points for processing, and the transport of products. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of byproducts including hides, feathers, dried blood, and.
In 1906 upton sinclairs novel the jungle focused attention on unsavory conditions in the packing plants and led to the federal meat inspection act of 1906. Paperback january 1, 1981 see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Researching the book in 1904, upton sinclair interviewed fellow socialists. At park packing, we take great pride in our superior selection and. Also, the way upton sinclair narrates the jungle, including a protagonist, a setting, and a plot, rather than simply giving out facts about the meat packing industry, supports the validity of the statement that sinclairs main purpose for writing the book was not only to uncover the secrets of meat packing. A full version, with citations, also appears in the 2011 book a republicif we can keep it. In 1904, upton sinclair, a novelist traveled to chicago to gather information about the terrible things and abused that happened in the meat packing industry. Packingtown was notorious for their awful living conditions and working conditions. Sep 06, 2015 as the scale and size of their facilities increased, so did the dangers. A muckraking novel about chicago s meat packing industry. The meat packing industry was completely repulsive. What book helped to bring about federal regulations to. The decline of chicago meat packing book, 1961 worldcat. Chicago was the worst and biggest meat packing industry in the early 1900s.
Key workplace hazards for meat and poultry laborers include excessive processing line speed, work spaces sullied with animal remains, cutting in close quarters. Men slaughtering cows at one of the packing houses. Upton sinclairs the jungle and the meatpacking industry. Packingtown is a section in chicago where the packing houses are located. The jungle is a 1906 novel by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair 18781968. Though known more for its horrific portrayal of the conditions inside slaughterhouses, only 60 pages of the 4 pages that make up the jungle detail the goingson of the meat packing industry. Working conditions in the new urban industrial zones were wretched, and a progressive reform movement soon grew out of the need to address the health and welfare of the american worker. Upton sinclairs book the jungle higlighted the disgusting practices or lack therein of the meat packing industry.
Meat labeling law repeal leaves buyers in dark about. In 1900, 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants filled the district. Employers squashed unionization efforts in 19191920, but in the 1930s. A muckraking novel about chicagos meatpacking industry. The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock.
In the early part of the century, they used the most recent immigrants and migrants as strikebreakers in labor actions taken by other workers, also usually. Search or browse our list of meat packing plants companies in north carolina by category or location. Dead rats were often processed with meat and rotten meat was doused with chemicals prior to reselling it. Meat packing plants companies in north carolina manta. This longer version below was originally published by liberty magazine in august 2006 to mark the centennial of the passage of the famed meat inspection act of 1906. In upton sinclairs novel, the jungle, sinclair argues the horrors of the meat packing industry and how corrupt capitalism. Meat packing industry 1920s by grace smavik on prezi.
Meat packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, were known to overwork their employees, failed to maintain adequate safety measures, and actively fought unionization. A history of the meat industry ansc 3404 published by the american meat science association. This novel soon became a focus of controversy and change within the united states. The library of congress does not own rights to material in its collections. But because roosevelt distrusted its close ties to the meatpacking. The following excerpt is from the wpa guide to illinois.
The city beef department, armours great packing house. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. An example of the kind of housing in which the rudkus family probably found themselves in packingtown chicago, c. Price new from used from paperback, 1981 please retry. For 106 years the chicago stockyards was the main center of the meat packing industry. Osha injury reporting rule sheds light on meat packing accidents slaughterhouse and meat processing plant workers have some of the most dangerous jobs. Photo, print, drawing chicago meat packing industry swifts packing house.
If, for example, wholesome valley meat company was going to apply its name to a meat product, the company couldnt survive by selling a tender cut one week and a less tender one the next. The disgusting industry of meatpacking meat packing. In the summer of 1904 this union led a long, bitter contest for wage increases. The jungle, a 1906 novel by upton sinclair, is full of graphic descriptions of the poor conditions workers and cattle endured in the chicago meatpacking industry. Workers did not practice good hygiene while working with raw meat, and were careless about the quality of the meat they were packing. Mccarty and holman, a major wholesale grocery company, and owners of jitneyjungle stores of america, food center warehouse stores, jitneyjungle jr. Essay on upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking. Sinclairs book was so moving and troubling that it inspired the establishment of the food and drug administration, a federal agency that is to this day responsible for regulating and supervising the food, tobacco, dietary supplement, and pharmaceutical industries in the u. In this photo taken may 19, 2015, meat labels are seen at a grocery store in washington.
The author, upton sinclair, selling copies of the fig leaf edition of another of his muckraking novels, oil. Sinclairs book was so moving and troubling that it inspired the establishment of the food and drug administration, a federal agency that is to this day responsible for regulating. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclair. The chain picks up where the jungle leaves off the chain. Conditions in meatpacking plants 1906, by upton sinclairthe explosive growth of american industry in the late nineteenth century caused a similar expansion in the work force. In the books most famous passage, sinclair even wrote of laborers falling. The book begins with his wife ona and his wedding feast. Meat packer, packing pork in barrels with salt to shi t th w t i di a d th c l iship to the west indies and the. Workers like jurgis had to work in dirty, gross conditions. While animals are a point of focus of this book, i wouldnt call slaughterhouse an animal rights or vegan work. Animal slaughter, meat packing, and meat processing are difficult, dirty jobs that see a high rate of employee turnover. One of the main concerns of the meatpacking industry was the high number of illnesses that arose, among meatpackers and consumers.
National beef packing co 30 n michigan ave chicago, il. Cows being slaughtered on the killing floors at one of the packing houses. The meat packing industry started in the early 1900s. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the united states in chicago and similar industrialized cities. Farm, factory, and the fate of our food, by ted genoways, is an important work of reporting. Newly constructed in the summer of 2009, park packings meat market boasts a variety and quality of meat that you just wont find anywhere else. The city, eager to retain the immediate supply of fresh meat and jobs, subsidized the industry throughout the early 20th century. By the 1880s, the european meat markets closed their doors to imported american meat. The meatpacking industry implored the government for the kind of legislation that would renew confidence in meat.
The meat packing industry grew with the construction of the railroads and methods of refrigeration for meat preservation. Labor conditions in meat packing ers and sheep butchers, prevailed, but had been rejected in other departments. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The cattle yards that seems to go on forever, and a view of the packing plants in the distance. The jungle is a novel by upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a book in 1906. Workers had few, if any, or no guidelines regarding the quality control of their products. In this new facility you will find every pork product imaginableshoulder, ham, ribs, bacon, loin, butts, ears, feet, and more.
The annals of iowa iowa research online university of. When visiting park packing, you will be met by a friendly, knowledgeable and approachable staff, working closely with local dealers and distributors to provide only the freshest and highest quality meat products, at the best price available. Graduate in the meat packing business in mississippi. Chicago meat packing industry swifts packing house. Five meatpacking companies still operate in the district. Strike in a packing house homicide in chicago 1870. Men and women making sausages in one of the packing houses. The jungle paperback chicago public library bibliocommons.
Americas many stockyards were known to be filthy, and a breeding ground for diseased meat. Of meat and myth foundation for economic education. Osha injury reporting rule sheds light on meat packing. He and his family live near the stockyards and meatpacking district where many immigrants, who do. All three works fit in the categories of business or economic history. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. The challenge the meat packing industry faced was delivering a branded product with consistent quality purchase after purchase. The amalgamated meat cutters and butcher workmen of north america, an affiliate of the american federation of labor, made impressive gains in all the packing centers at the turn of the century.
Meat packing blues a book examines when chicago was the king of. Established in 1952, jones packing is located at 22701 oak grove rd in harvard, il mchenry county and is a business listed in the categories meat packers, meat packing plants and animal except poultry slaughtering. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Search business profiles for chicago, illinois meat packing plants at. Jurgis rudkus finds a job at a meatpacking district where the work is. Aug 10, 2016 osha injury reporting rule sheds light on meat packing accidents slaughterhouse and meat processing plant workers have some of the most dangerous jobs.
Given sinclairs socialist leanings, roosevelt was suspicious of the veracity of. Some 50,000 packinghouse workers walked off their jobs. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the united states. A half mile of pork, at armours great packing house in chicago, around 1894. An abandoned meat mecca now serves as an excellent locale for urban exploration. Essay on upton sinclair and the chicago meatpacking industry.
The cattle butchers local unions number 5,500 of the 50,000 members, and of these about 2,000 are the most. Based on years of interviews and tireless research, the book spans the length of our food system, focused largely on hormel foods, the makers of spam. We are open from 7 am to 4 pm weekday and 8 am to 3 pm sunday to provide our staff with additional time to restock and thoroughly sanitize our store the peoria packing staff has been working around the clock to ensure our store is adequately restocked and sanitized for our customers. After you look at these images of meatpacking facilities from early last century, youll understand why social reformer upton sinclair wrote his great 1906 novel the jungle about workers horrific experiences in the meat packing industry. Slaughterhouse is a book about the other reality behind our demand for cheap meat, and lots of it. At its peak in 1924 it processed more meat than any other place in the world. The battles between labor and management were sporadic, continuing, hard fought and often bitter, as vast numbers of workers from abroad and from the american south and rural areas flocked to chicago seeking work in the industry. Opacity is dedicated to documenting various abandoned places through both text and photographs. One of the main concerns of the meat packing industry was the high number of illnesses that arose, among meat packers and consumers. Its now harder to find out where your meat was born, raised and slaughtered. William pynchon became the nations first meat packer, packing pork in barrels with salt to shi t th w t i di a d th c l iship to the west indies and the colonies. The first meatpacking business began in 1692, when john pynchon of springfield, massachusetts, began buying hogs and shipping the meat to boston for the growing city population and the provisioning of ships.
Labor conditions in meat packing and the recent strike. The original version of this essay was published in the freeman in november 1994. Stores and sack and save stores started their own meat. Utterly disturbing, centuryold photos of meatpacking.
History of the meat industry1 texas tech university. In 1906, upton sinclairs novel the jungle uncovered harrowing conditions inside americas meat packing. Feb 15, 2014 the meat packing plants that jurgis works in are in packingtown, chicago. Upton beall sinclair was a famous american writer and essayist whose book the jungle, an expose of chicagos meatpacking industry, shocked the nation and. Click to view photo details the stockyards and the meat packing industry played a prominent role in the history and economic development of chicago during this period. Below is a quote from the book talking about the sanitary conditions. Steam power photos of the abandoned armour meat packing.
Many of the meats were rancid, rat infested, and bacteria filled. Meatpacking began as a local business in the colonial era, but by the dawn of the twentyfirst century it had become a huge industry. She remembers her childhood love of books and reading, how she got her start and the. Best chicago meat company serves consumers, retailers, and food service customers with highquality, delicious products. Upton beall sinclair socialist, book, meat, and industry jrank. His primary purpose in describing the meat industry. The jungle may have led to some reforms, but working conditions in meatpacking plants remained dangerous and often wretched, though they improved for a few decades. Jan 16, 2012 men and women making sausages in one of the packing houses. Rather, its an overall study of the modern day meatprocessing factorybut dont be surprised if the animal rights and vegan argu if you read only one book about the meat industry, make it this one. In the past two years, three new works have appeared. Men skinning carcasses at armour and carrying sides of beef to the freezers. One hundred years ago, a great and enduring myth was born.
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