Beginning of Another Week in the Smith Sherlock Company Store

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Cariboo brand canned lobster. Getcha some!

We started off the morning with our weekly staff meeting, which went a little long because of planning for, and discussion of, the Gold Rush Days event in two weeks. After the meeting, Gator and I loaded up sarsaparilla for the Miner’s Exchange Saloon. I then worked in the archives until noon and left to open the Smith Sherlock Company Store. It was pretty quiet until about 2:00.

During this time I set up a small battery-operated lazy Susan and shot a few videos of one of the cans on display in the store- this allows me to smoothly rotate the cans and show the entire label. This worked well, but I need to create a background and sides to minimize the light and reflections coming in from the windows. For my subject, I chose a can I had only noticed recently: Cariboo Brand Fresh Lobster. I had seen canned lobster mentioned in Smith Sherlock Company Store invoices from the early 1900s, so this was a really nice find.

i have been wanting to shoot a few videos and discuss some of the more interesting cans and brands. Most people that come into the store look at the cans, recognize a few brands, but there is a lot of interesting history behind the history. This is one of my summer projects that I have been looking forward to launching.

Traffic in the store picked up a bit after 2:00 and by 4:00 PM, 34 visitors and one dog had stopped in. Time went by quickly, At 4:00, I closed the store and went and grabbed a Ranger to pick up Gator and the sarsaparilla.

Connie and I got back to the trailer and discussed dinner. I had meant to set out some salmon to thaw, but forgot. Our back-up plan was to go to the Miner’s Grubstake in Atlantic City. After dinner, we went to the Rock Shop for a drink and then headed back to SPC. On the way back, we decided to drive around on the old highway. We saw16 pronghorn antelope, but no grouse.

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