Cannery worker filling glass jars with peach halves, 1949.

Workers were paid based on the number of jars filled during their shift. Notice the scales to her left and right – each filled jar had to be weighed for accuracy. One way to cheat the piece-rate system here is to put extra weight on the balance with the jar. By short-filling each jar, a worker would fill more jars during a shift. However, filled jars and cans were double-checked by a quality control inspector and workers caught cheating were usually fired.

Black and White Photograph
Courtesy of the Moulin Archive
History San José Collection