The Label Unwrapped – A Great Day for a Picnic!

“The Label Unwrapped: The History of Canned Salmon Labels” is the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site’s current feature exhibit, which recently opened in May 2019. In this blog series Shannon King, Manager of Audience Engagement, shares some insight into the new exhibit and the colourful stories behind the labels. 

When companies turned their focus to the domestic Canadian market after the Second World War, labels idealized family life in order to make a sale. Labels with images of picnics, beach vacations, dinner parties, and cozy homes became popular.  

One of these labels is featured in The Label Unwrapped exhibit. It is the Picnic Brand label from the Canadian Fishing Company that features a family enjoying a picnic of canned salmon sandwiches. Mother looks like she couldn’t be any happier to sit on the grass in her fancy blue dress and high heeled white pumps. Mother is certainly not concerned about possible grass stains on the son’s white pants.  

The family on the label is an outdated idealization. So, we decided it would be fun to invite visitors to make this picnic more representative of Canada today. In The Label Unwrapped, you will find all the supplies you need to join the picnic.  We would love to see images that our visitors have taken of themselves in the picnic.  

Tag us on Instagram #GOGpicnic @gogcannery with your best shots!