BC Packers Records at the Richmond Archives
British Columbia Packers Ltd Photograph Collection
Donated by British Columbia Packers Limited to the City of Richmond Archives in 1985, this collection contains over two thousand photographs taken between 1898 and 1983.
The photographs, which are organized in 13 series, served a number of purposes, including facilitating internal communication between employees about business affairs and promoting the company's products and operations through local, national and global marketing campaigns.
The topical and geographic landscape the photographs cover is diverse. They feature fishing boats, fish camps, canneries and plants, fishing technology, and fish processing techniques in Steveston and along the Fraser and Skeena Rivers, Prince Rupert, Bella Bella, the Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as Quadra and Campbell Islands. There is also some material pertaining to the canneries operating on Canada's east coast.
British Columbia Packers Ltd. photograph collection
British Columbia Packers Ltd fonds
This body of records, dating from 1890 until the company ceased operations in 2001, comprises 14 metres of multiple media arranged into 12 series. The material was donated to the City of Richmond Archives in 2001 when the company vacated its head office in Steveston.
Records document matters relating to the operation, maintenance and administration of BC Packers and its predecessor and subsidiary companies. The fonds includes trademark administration records, product labels, public relations, advertising and marketing materials, and records documenting operations for legal and organizational purposes, and of employee workplace and social events.
While the majority of the records pertain to local operations, some document business affairs in Eastern Canada as well as in the Unites States, Mexico, and Southeast Asia.
British Columbia Packers Ltd. fonds
Barker Letter Books Virtual Exhibit
A complete transcription of the outgoing correspondence of one of the company's first general managers, William Henry Barker, can be viewed in the "Barker Letter Books" virtual exhibit.
The letters which comprise Series 2 of the British Columbia Packers Ltd. fonds, date from 1905 to 1926.
Barker Letter Books Virtual Exhibit
Online Resources at Other Facilities
Online Exhibits:
- "In Their Words: The Story of BC Packers" (Richmond Museum)
Other Archival Finding Aids:
- BC Packers Ltd. fonds (UBC Library Rare Books & Special Collections)
- BC Packers Ltd. fonds (BC Archives, Royal BC Museum)