Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and More) in Florida and California

  By Kendra Belton, FCHoF Student Fellow

Blog Installment Four— East Coast Citrus, West Coast Citrus: Citrus Crate Labels in Florida and California, A Study in Comparisons

 

            Yet another way citrus crate labels caught people’s attention had nothing to do with connecting them back to the producing state. The labels also explored different modes of transportation. Sometimes the labels showed new transportation technology. In other instances, they featured everyday transportation or vehicles that were becoming more common. Traditionally, working men are often interested in cars, war, and modern technology in general. So, some labels even showed war-related transportation. For example, these labels featured planes, trains, automobiles, warships, and dirigibles.

            One label from California in 1910 is called “Monoplane.” It highlights an invention at the forefront of technology. The monoplane is an aircraft with only one pair of wings, compared to the biplane. The biplane has two wings, “one above the other” (“Monoplane” 2018, “Biplane” 2018). While the biplane came first, monoplanes were lighter and faster. The first successful monoplane flight was in 1906. After that, the monoplane became more common, especially during World War II. And it was mostly men who fought in World War II. So, some of the jobbers may even have had direct associations with monoplanes. That is why Florida’s “Endurance Brand” monoplane, dated sometime between 1930 and 1950, makes sense. By then, most planes were monoplanes, not biplanes.

            Another label from the 1930s to 1950s is the Florida “Air-Flow Brand” label. It depicts a train. Trains were essential to the citrus industry, and the jobbers were purchasing citrus that trains had brought to them. Although the “Golden Age” of railroads was from the 1880s to the 1920s, trains continued to transport goods (“Trains” 2016). Trains helped carry much of Florida’s citrus across the country. So, the train on the label might be honoring that history.

            While Florida honored trains, California showed an automobile on its 1920 “Auto Brand” label. By that time, Henry Ford had revolutionized the automobile industry. Now, an automobile was no longer “a luxury and a plaything” but “a necessity… cheap, versatile, and easy to maintain” (Cromer & Foster et. al. 2025). In 1920, most people still drove open model cars. Accessible closed automobiles did not become common until the middle of the decade. That is why the car on the label is open—it shows the kind of car most people, including wholesalers, would have used. Showing a familiar concept on labels is a good way to entice jobbers to buy their product.

            A much less common mode of transportation is the warship. California’s “Searchlight Brand” shows a warship from around 1920 to 1930. This was a period between World War I and World War II, when many countries were reducing their weaponry (“Warships”). That makes the label somewhat surprising. Florida’s “Full Ahead” label, also showing a warship, makes more sense. It is from the 1930s to the 1950s. At that time, America was either getting ready for or recovering from World War II. There would have been many men in the industry who had experience with warships, just like there would have been many with monoplane experience. Again, familiar, even war-related, images draw a buyer’s attention. By this time, the nation had stopped reducing its weaponry after realizing that it did not prevent the war.

            Another type of ship on the labels is one in the sky: the airship, also known as the dirigible. California’s “Airship” crate label dates to 1910. That same year, the America airship attempted a transatlantic flight. The airship on the label is probably semi-rigid. It seems to have a partially rigid frame, as compared to a Zeppelin (a brand name for a rigid airship) or a blimp. Blimps, like the one on Florida’s “Blimp Brand” label, are “pressure airships” that are “powered, steerable, lighter-than-air vehicle[s] whose shape is maintained by the pressure of the gases within [their] envelope” instead of rigid metal frames (Grossman n.d.). The “Blimp Brand” label was made between 1920 and 1950. During those years, the U.S. Navy had a special lighter-than-air program. The program used blimps in anti-submarine and reconnaissance roles (Grossman n.d.).

            Most of the transportation on these labels makes sense for their time. Some labels seem to show the daily needs of the American population. Others hinted at national sensations, like the failed flight of the America. Many of these images were familiar to the jobbers, whether they had directly interacted with the transportation or not. Nevertheless, both Florida and California used transportation images as one of the many eye-catching categories on their citrus crate labels.

Bibliography: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YnuEs3oAUlnwe6uMgSDLNpKpRFnYq4YQ/view?usp=sharing

Images Cited: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19IXXoGwo7wfoX5_pUd4beO1750tpg4fl/view?usp=sharing