The Meat Cartel and the Working Man’s Supper
When local butchers formed a monopoly to inflate the price of beef, Seattle’s working class turned to fish and bacon—and the local press took notice.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Owing to the high prices asked for meats by those who have a corner on the business, a number of the larger consumers and some dealers have commenced shipping dressed beef, pork and mutton from various parts of the Sound, especially from Olympia and Whatcom. There is no reason why meat in Seattle should not be cheaper than at any point on the Sound. Most of the beef cattle from east of the mountains reaches the Sound by way of Snoqualmie Pass, and necessarily have to pass through this county and city. A gentleman who is in a position to be posted, in speaking of the present state of affairs said: 'The cause of the high price of beef is that two or three large buyers got in and bought up all the available beef cattle in this section, and after getting the business right in their own hands, determined to make a good thing out of it. The retail dealers would like it better if prices were lower. The high prices work a hardship on them.' A retail dealer said: 'My business has fallen off very materially since the advance in meats. My customers are mostly working people, who formerly bought meat every day, now most of them only buy once or twice a week. The balance of the time they eat fish or bacon. I long for the time when I can sell meat at the old figures.' A prominent restaurant keeper said: 'My meat bill is quite an item, and runs from $100 to $130 per week. When my butcher notified me of the advance I at once entered into a correspondence with butchers down the Sound, and found that I could save money by dealing with them. I mean to ship all my meat from the lower Sound country.'
“My customers are mostly working people, who formerly bought meat every day, now most of them only buy once or twice a week. The balance of the time they eat fish or bacon.”
This 1887 report on concentrated corporate power controlling basic food costs in Seattle feels strikingly familiar today. As the city grapples with the high cost of living and monopolistic pressures on essential goods, this account shows that 'supply chain' anxieties and the squeeze on the working-class kitchen table are as old as the city itself.
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