The History of the Citrus Crate Label

Citrus Crate Labels. Vegetable Crate Labels. Sunkist. Sound familiar? We have seen our clients use them as wallpaper, frame them, alter art collage projects, used as invitations! There are so many wonderful things that can be done with the old crate labels. One of my customers recently asked for a little background. She is a new collector starting out, so Helen this one is for you!

Paper labels started to be used in the 19th century, via a printing process known as lithography. Most of the artists that created the labels were not well known. They were German immigrants who came to the bustling cities of America. One of the most popular places that the immigrants decided to live was California, where they learned their craft while working for large printng houses such as Schmidt Litho in San Fransico. They attended classes at trade schools to learn basic skills for creating this artwork. Individual artists were very rarely credited for their work.

The labels were glued onto fruit and vegetable crates and farmers would use them to advertise their crops. Most of the time the labels drawn had nothing to do with the product sold. Crate labels were printed on a heavier stock paper than is used today (thus this is how you can tell if you have received a reproduction). The original artwork was drawn on linen or paper and then painted with watercolor.

Sadly most of the original artwork has been destroyed, though from time to time a collector is lucky enough to find an original piece. From these, the lithographed labels would be printed. It should be noted that there are very few printer's samples left in existence (but if you are lucky enough to get one, you will know it because it is heavy rubber stamped on the back of the label).

As with anything in time, manufacturers found cheaper ways to do things and in the 1950s, cheaper cardboard boxes were made and caused the wooden crates with the labels to become obsolete.

Many of the labels that were produced were left in storage and thus memorabilia sellers have over the years been fortnate enough to salvage them and create a new appreciation for the art and beauty of an era gone by.