nalley's display at the puyallup fair (1948); from the tacoma public library

It’s the end of the (canning) line in Nalley Valley.

The 93-year-old south Tacoma food processing giant became a regional (and in some product lines, international) hit in potato chips and dips, pickles, pancake syrup, chili, mayonnaise, salad dressings, and countless other packaged-food products.

But the company was sold back in the ’60s, and resold several times since. Various managements sold or closed Nalley’s product lines over the years.

Finally, the New York equity group that now owns the brand has shut the last part of the plant, which made chili and canned soups.

The equity group, and its trademark licensees, promise to keep the Nalley’s brand alive, in the same way that there’s still a beer called Rainier (made at the Miller plant in L.A.).

But that’s not the same thing as actually being here, employing local workers, sourcing from local farmers.

(In the comments that follow the hereby-linked Seattle Times story, one commenter notes the current owner of the Nalley’s pickle line touts it as “The Taste of the Northwest,” even though the stuff’s now made in Iowa from cukes grown in India.)