Eggs-ellent Artifacts

Other egg-related materials in the Bulkley Valley Museum's collection

As we are located in a semi-rural area partially dependent on farming, it's not surprising that our collection contains quite a few egg-related items. Have a look at a few of them here.

Star Egg Carrier & Tray

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A wooden egg box with cardboard inserts, which served as a precursor to Coyle's egg carton, c. 1906. (1999.2.13, Bulkley Valley Museum artifact colelction). 

Among the many precursors to the Coyle Egg Carton was the Star Egg Carrier & Tray, invented by John G. Elbs of Rochester, New York around the turn of the 20th century. This example in the Museum's collection dates from about 1906 - only five years before Coyle's 'Eureka!' moment. It is similar in appearance to the Raylite Egg Boxes patented that same year in Liverpool by Thomas Bethell.

With thick wooden sides and cardboard insets to keep the eggs from hitting each other, these boxes were sturdy and reliable. According to the Bowers Museum, it was said that John Elbs demonstrated their strength by driving a horse-drawn carriage over one of his boxes, which did not break!

Cornelius Bot egg carton

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Carton for Grade A eggs from Cornelius Bot's poultry farm, c. 1960s. (1987.16.1, Bulkley Valley Museum artifact collection)

This modern-looking egg carton was used by Cornelius Bot, a poultry farmer who immigrated to Smithers from Holland in 1958. His chicken farm was located where the Park Place subdivision (Victoria Street) is today. Many of the Museum's egg-related artifacts were donated by Bot and his family. 

This egg carton, and others in the Museum's collection made of styrofoam, represent a shift away from the paper cartons developed by Joseph Coyle. Pressed paper egg cartons were first developed in 1935, the dimpled cup-like bottoms were introduced in 1952, and styrofoam egg cartons appeared in 1967. New materials and technologies eventually made the Coyle carton obsolete - after an impressive run of 60 years.

Egg candlers

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Two different egg candlers, used to test eggs for fertility. Dates unknown. (1984.3.1 (top) and 1978.141.2 (bottom), Bulkley Valley Museum artifact collection).

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The two artifacts to the right are egg candlers, devices used to test whether or not an egg is viable (capable of developing into a chick). An egg would be placed in the top of the candler and a flame lit underneath to illuminate it, usually in a dark room. The farmer could then look 'into' the egg and check for the signs of a growing embryo. 

Candling typically starts after 5 days of incubation and continues every few days until the chick hatches. In fertile eggs, a small dark spot (the embryo) can be seen in the centre with a web of blood vessels radiating from it. Over time, this spot fills up the entire egg apart from a small, light-coloured air sac at one end. A chart from Brinsea Incubation Specialists showing this process can be viewed here. Infertile eggs, on the other hand, appear clear and empty throughout the entire period. Dead eggs can be identified by either a dark ring or an ill-defined blob, depending on when in the process they died. The non-viable eggs are removed so that they don't rot and explode, infecting the healthy eggs with toxic germs. 

Egg candling is still done today, but with electric light bulbs rather than candles. Some modern machines are able to illuminate dozens of eggs at a time.

Egg scales

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Two scales for weighing eggs, c. 1920s-1950s. (1978.141.3 (top) and 1991.207.1 (bottom), Bulkley Valley Museum artifact collection)

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To the left are two scales used for weighing eggs. The top scale simply measures the ounces per dozen eggs; the bottom is more complex, giving a weight for each individual egg as well as per dozen, and assigning each one to a category (Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large) depending on its size. Today, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has six size categories for eggs: Peewee, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Jumbo. 

The light green Jamesway scale at the top was made by Eastern Steel Products Limited in Preston, Ontario. It has no known date of manufacture, but was probably produced between the 1920s and 1950s. The red Jiffy-Way scale on the bottom, made in Owatonna, Minnesota, was patented on June 5th 1940, so dates from no earlier than then. 

Weighing and candling are both important parts of egg grading - the process of assigning a grade to an egg based on its quality, weight, cleanliness, and shell construction. Grade A eggs are sold directly to customers, while Grade B and C eggs are converted into products such as mayonnaise, salad dressings, dried/powdered egg, and liquefied eggs. The Livestock and Livestock Products Act of 1939 made it illegal to sell ungraded eggs in Canada.

Egg stamps

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Assortment of egg-grading stamps, some produced by the Interior News, possibly c. 1918-1968. (1987.16.1d-h, Bulkley Valley Museum artifact collection)

These stamps were presumably used at egg-grading stations to label eggs with their assigned grade. Smithers seems not to have had its own egg-grading station until 1954, when one was opened at the Smithers Feed Store. Prior to this, the nearest station was apparently located in Telkwa. 

Fittingly, some of these stamps were produced by the Interior News. They were probably not made during Joseph Coyle's era, but sometime during the Warner family's ownership of the paper (1918-1968), when a printing, stationery, and office supply component was added to the business. Nonetheless, the stamps serve as another interesting connection between the News and the egg industry.