My Mom used to make Salmon Loaf out of canned salmon. Us kids hated it. To this day I love fresh wild salmon, and hate canned salmon.
In the 1950's, we ate a lot of salmon cakes made from canned salmon, which was probably similar to the salmon loaf you had. This was usually a lunch meal. I liked them, but not nearly as well as salmon steaks, which I first encountered when I was an adult.