The Jungle (Upton Sinclair: Stockyard Fundamentals, c. 1900)

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The Great Union Stockyards of Chicago, with packing houses in the distance; covered pens for hogs and sheep; open pens for cattle; area of yards, 75 acres; 50 miles railroad tracks; daily capacity 25,000 head cattle, 160,000 hogs, 10,000 sheep and 1000 horses: photo by Charles Rascher for Walsh & Company, c. 1878 (Library of Congress)

It was the incarnation of blind insensate Greed. It was a monster devouring with a thousand mouths, trampling with a thousand hoofs: it was the Great Butcher — it was the spirit of Capitalism made flesh.


Upton Sinclair: from The Jungle, 1906

In the heart of the Great Union Stockyards of Chicago: photographer unknown, for Kelley & Chadwick, c. 1909 (Library of Congress)



View of the elevated railway track near animal pens in the New City community area of Chicago: photographer unknown, for Chicago Daily News, 1907 (Chicago Historical Society/Library of Congress)



Man washing two cattle carcasses with a fountain brush in Swift & Company plant at the stockyards in the New City community area of Chicago: photographer unknown, for Chicago Daily News, 1909 (Chicago Historical Society/Library of Congress)



Splitting backbones and final inspection -- hogs ready for cooler, Swift & Company, Chicago: photo by H.C. White, c. 24 February 1906 (Library of Congress)



Panoramic picture illustrating the beef industry, Chicago: photos by George R. Lawrence, c. 1900 (Library of Congress)



Panoramic picture illustrating the pork industry, Chicago: photos by George R. Lawrence, c. 1900 (Library of Congress)



A half-mile of pork -- Armour's great packing house, Chicago: photographer unknown, c. 1890, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views (New York Public Library Digital Collection)



The last process in dressing beef: washing with boiling water: photographer unknown, c. 1890, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views (New York Public Library Digital Collection)



From Kansas plains to the corners of the globe they go; Union Stock Yards, Chicago: photographer unknown, c. 1870-1900, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views (New York Public Library Digital Collection)