Fruit Crate Labels

Fruit crate labels identified and promoted fruit on the ends of wood fruit crates starting in the early 1900s and are valued for their colorful designs.  Labels became an industry-wide necessity to communicate the appeal of fresh produce to buyers.  In the fast-paced setting of auction halls and commission markets, buyers could not see the fruit, which was individually packed in tissue paper and sealed in a wooden box.  Brightly colored, attractively designed labels soon became the growers' chief advertising device.  The more vivid, powerful and attractive the illustration, the better the produce would sell.  The labels included nearly every theme, especially regional and national history and scenery, children, the Gold Rush, the old West, politics, the romantic era, war, fierce animals, beautiful women and luscious vignettes of fruits and vegetables. 

 

Fruit crates disappeared with the advent of self-service supermarkets and cardboard boxes.  These labels are original, not reproductions.

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