The puegh, also spelled pugh or pew, was a simple, yet effective tool used by fishermen and cannery workers to move fish. Its long-handle eliminated the need to bend over to get ahold of a fish. By stabbing the single-tined fork through the fish's head, one could rapidly lift and fling a fish through the entire course of its processing – from the deck, to the hold, to the dock, and into the cannery.
But in 1919, the chief of the United States Bureau of Chemistry, Dr. C.L. Alsberg, toured the Southeast Alaska canneries to assess their compliance with federal pure food laws. Alsberg observed man...
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