“Once upon a time, residents of Ashcroft had to learn to love ketchup. It wasn’t the taste that was important, but on some days, the smell would pervade every nook and cranny of the town, to the point that ketchup haters probably would have thought seriously about finding a new place to live”. – Tracy Thiessen, Tomato Days in Ashcroft 
The Ashcroft Cannery opened in 1925 and the last year of operation was in 1957; the cannery was then put up for sale and eventually torn down to be replaced by the Sands Hotel (located here is now the BC Children and Family Services building). It was first called Ashcroft Canners, and then a couple years later it was bought out by Aylmers. The cannery produced a variety of tomato products, including juice, catsup (ketchup), and canned tomatoes. Every second year the cannery canned pumpkin. The cannery was staffed by about 200 women within the cannery, and men in the fields and truck drivers who transported the products.
(Royalty Free Music from Bensound: www.bensound.com)
Story Time
Listen to the story: “‘Mary’ the Cannery Worker”. This story was written by a student from the Lady Byng High School in the 1950s. Mary is not the real name of the cannery worker.
(Royalty free music from https://www.fesliyanstudios.com)
Are you a good guesser? Well try our Guess the Artifacts Game (Hint: The artifacts are food related)
Art Activity