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1. The Dairy Commissioner’s War on Adulterated Food

   A Washington dairy official warns that fake honey, poisoned candy, oleomargarine and brewers’ grain are cheating farmers — and demands stronger pure-food laws.

   Jan 1, 1898Ranche and RangeYakima, Yakima CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

2. The Salvation Army’s Plan to Turn a Kitsap Farm Into a Lifeline for Seattle’s Unemployed

   With a 250-acre bequest near Sidney and a crowded food-and-shelter depot at Weller and South Third, the Army proposed a co-operative farm, woodyard and prison-gate brigade to put hundreds of jobless men to work.

   Jan 31, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent · Work & Pay

3. The State Chemist Finds Formaldehyde in Canned Meats

   Washington's State Food Commissioner moves to curb the use of dangerous preservatives in industrial food production.

   Oct 10, 1903The Evening StatesmanPullman, Whitman CountyCity Hall · Strange But True

4. The War on 'Embalmed' Milk

   State Dairy and Food Commissioner E. A. McDonald reflects on the rise of Washington's dairy industry and his crusade against chemical preservatives in the food supply.

   Sep 15, 1903The RanchVancouver, Clark CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

5. A Thousand Women Are About to Storm City Hall Over Filthy Food

   Organized Tacoma clubwomen, claiming a thousand members behind them, have investigated the city's kitchens and markets and found them unclean — and on Monday they march on the health committee to demand a pure-food ordinance.

   Feb 6, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

6. Tacoma Women Demand a Female Food Inspector

   Local women's groups argue that a woman's experience in food preparation makes her the most qualified candidate to enforce health standards in city stores.

   Mar 5, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

7. Seattle’s Food and Shelter Depot Served 5,572 Free Meals in December

   The charity’s weekly report defended free meals, promised work for the able-bodied, and insisted it served all comers regardless of race or religion.

   Jan 2, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent

8. The Five-Gallon Pickle Jar That Held Three, and Other Cheats of 1907

   Washington's pure food commissioner reports that the milk of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane is clean — but the packages on the shelf are not what they claim, and he wants the legislature to make him inspector of weights and measures too.

   Jan 1, 1903The RanchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Snake Oil

9. The Pure Food Ordinance Trap

   Tacoma women leading a campaign for food safety are blindsided by a missing provision in a new city ordinance.

   Mar 6, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

10. The Fight for Sanitary Food

    Tacoma’s club women are spearheading a radical new ordinance to force bakeries and food merchants to meet strict hygiene standards.

    Feb 4, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

11. Tacoma's Women Take On the Bakers Over Wrapped Bread

    A committee of pure-food reformers and a dozen bakers squared off before the city council's health committee over an ordinance requiring bread be wrapped — with more than 1,000 women enlisted behind the fight.

    Feb 8, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

12. The Home Front Call to Arms

    Food Administrator Herbert Hoover urges Kennewick farmers to maximize crop production to defeat the global food crisis during World War I.

    Jan 31, 1918The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton County

13. The Bear That Wasn't: Seattle’s War Department Scandal

    A federal court of inquiry clears the city of corruption but exposes a bizarre military blunder involving refrigerated beef and embalmed meat during the Spanish-American War.

    May 8, 1899The Seattle StarSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Scandal

14. A Mother, a Child, and a Cold Shack Off Albert Street

    A police officer's dollar leads Superintendent Gilmer to a family with no food, no furniture and no shoes—and to a quiet rescue before the county takes over.

    Jan 17, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent

15. Work for a Meal: The Salvation Army’s ‘Elevator’ Opens in Seattle

    The Salvation Army opened a combined shelter, soup kitchen and workshop near Third and South Second, offering hundreds of meals and 130 beds—provided able-bodied men earned their keep.

    Jan 24, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent · Work & Pay

16. The Bread Wrapping War: Tacoma Women Take On City Hall

    With 1,500 club members, city doctors and a health inspector behind them, Tacoma women demand that bakery bread be wrapped—and that dogs be barred from groceries.

    Feb 15, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

17. Survival in the Flooded Cascades

    Two miners emerge from the mountains after fifty-two hours without food, describing a desperate retreat from a flooded mining camp.

    Nov 24, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMonte Cristo, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

18. The City Wharf as a Stone Yard: Seattle's Plan to Put Its Idle Men to Work

    A petition signed by dozens of prominent Seattle businessmen asks the city council to turn the waterfront into a public stone yard, trading honest labor for meals and lodging — and to run the beggars out of town.

    Feb 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · City Hall

19. Benton County Committee Calls for Conscription of Labor

    With food scarcity looming in 1917, local authorities propose closing schools early and conscripting the unemployed to save the harvest.

    Jun 8, 1917White Bluffs SpokesmanProsser, Benton CountyWork & Pay

20. The Milk Inspector's Surprise

    A state food inspector goes undercover at Seattle restaurants to find that almost no one is serving actual milk—and that some are using embalming fluid to keep it 'fresh'.

    Jun 10, 1903The Evening StatesmanSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

21. Formaldehyde in the Milk: Seattle's Pure Food Prosecutions

    State Dairy and Pure Food Commissioner E. A. McDonald reports eight Seattle milk sellers fined for adulteration, including formaldehyde and low butterfat, as part of a statewide crackdown.

    Jan 15, 1904The RanchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

22. The State's War on 'Doped' Food

    Washington's food commissioner launches an aggressive campaign against the use of poisonous preservatives in local meat, fish, and oyster supplies.

    Oct 16, 1903The Evening StatesmanOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

23. The Harbor's Salmon Season: 40,000 Cases, 200 Jobs—and a Case for the Lowly Dog Salmon

    A Grays Harbor cannery packed nearly two million cans and paid fishermen more than $50,000 in three months, while a correspondent argued the maligned dog salmon was as good as dried beef.

    Dec 7, 1893Aberdeen HeraldAberdeen, Grays Harbor CountyWork & Pay · Boom & Bust

24. The Great Chicken Confinement Debate

    A practical poultry raiser challenges the industry-backed myth that fancy, confined birds require expensive, proprietary feed mixtures to survive.

    May 1, 1903The RanchSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

25. The Salmon War: A 19th-Century Plea for Equitable Fishing

    A sea captain argues that restrictive fishing regulations are designed to benefit luxury fur traders at the expense of the working class’s food supply.

    May 12, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

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