The Canning Line on the Tootsie, 1969

This photo shows two gentlemen running their homemade canning operation on the Tootsie, which they did for a number of years.

The man operating the little seaming machine is Ed Steig, long-time engineer on the Tootsie. The man looking at the camera is Harold Hawkinson, captain of the Tootsie. His pictures have often been featured on this site, along with those of his sons, Richard and Bob.

Seaming the half-pounds cans involved the silver arms closing on the spinning can. It would seal it just as the larger machines did in the canneries. The Tootsie had 110 volt service. As a substitute for a retort, they would simply use a pressure cooker on the galley range.

©Photo by Bob Hawkinson with a Kodak Instamatic camera

The picture used on this page is COPYRIGHTED.