By Kendra Belton, FCHoF Student Fellow
Blog Installment Four—
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
