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.
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.
The amount of dairy products handled in Seattle during the past year makes an interesting showing. There were 1,799,909 pounds of Washington creamery butter sold, 2,298,800 pounds of Eastern butter, 535,547 pounds of California and Oregon butter, 228,339 pounds of Washington cheese, 376,000 pounds of Eastern cheese and 627,024 pounds of California and Oregon cheese.
Speaking of the milk supply of the state the commissioner declares: "There is no more important work than the purifying of the milk supply. The quality of milk sold in Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane is above that required by law."
As pure food commissioner Mr. McDonald strongly urged some action on the part of the legislature to prohibit the introduction of short weights and measures, and asks that an amendment to the pure food act be made so as to add to his duties that of inspecting weights and measures. Speaking of this question he says:
"At the present time the package does not indicate the amount contained therein. For example, packages containing pickles, marked five gallons, do not contain more than from three to three and one half gallons. Butter in prints supposed to weigh two pounds does not weigh more than twenty-eight ounces. The same may be said of many other lines of goods."
An amendment to the pure food law to cover the sale of vinegar is recommended, and it is urged that a strict line be drawn and all varieties be closely defined. Commissioner McDonald is satisfied that the pure food law is being obeyed more strictly and that the sale of adulterated food is rapidly diminishing.
“"Packages containing pickles, marked five gallons do not contain more than from three to three and one half gallons. Butter in prints supposed to weigh two pounds does not weigh more than twenty-eight ounces."”
A century before anyone coined the word "shrinkflation," Washington's pure food commissioner was measuring boxes and weighing butter prints and finding the same quiet arithmetic: the label says five gallons, the jar holds three. His fix was structural — give one official the power to inspect weights and measures — and the argument over whether a package must tell the truth about what's inside it is still being litigated in grocery aisles and statehouses today.
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