Vintage fruit crate labels reveal agricultural history and art of Pacific Northwest

Before the advent of cardboard boxes, wooden crates were used to pack apples, pears and other iconic fruits of the Northwest to ship across the region and the nation. Up until the 1950s, the crates were adorned with elaborately illustrated labels bearing the name of the orchard that grew the fruit packed inside. These fruit crate labels reflect the histories of the growers, distributors, printers and artists involved with them from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. As such, they’re coveted by collectors across the Northwest and country, as the Capital Press recently reported.

Carlos Pelley is an archivist for the Yakima Valley Libraries. Mike Doty is a volunteer curator at the Yakima Valley Museum and a longtime fruit crate label collector. Thomas Hull is also a collector, and a history teacher at Davis High School in Yakima. They join us to talk about the history of the labels, which have fostered a community of collectors in the Pacific Northwest.