Fruit Label Swap
April 6 @ 12:00 pm
From mid-1890 until the late 1960’s fruit from the Columbia Gorge was shipped in wood boxes with colorful paper labels pasted to the ends. The labels were attractive images to entice buyers in fruit auction houses and customers at local grocery stores. Fruit labels varied in themes – some had pastoral scenes of the orchards or instead featured young women, while others focused on recognizable Northwest images like Mt Hood to catch the buyer’s eye.
The fruit growing areas of the Columbia Gorge contained some of the finest examples of stone lithography. The boxed apples, pears and cherries were shipped as far away as Europe and Asia. Sadly, with the coming of the cardboard box these labels became obsolete and are now an historical item sought after by collectors or those who worked in the fruit industry.
Sue Naumes is a longtime collector of apple and pear labels whose family has roots in the HRV dating back to 1907. Kelsey Doncaster is a Pacific Northwest historian and fruit label collector. Join us Saturday, April 6 to show labels and answer questions. Kelsey’s Hidden History presentation about the Hood River Valley’s fruit labels and how these beautiful labels were made will begin at 1:00pm.
People are encouraged to bring in their labels or if they have Hood River Valley, White Salmon Valley or The Dalles fruit industry history to share! Free Hood River labels will be given to anyone who attends. See you here!!
This event is free but dentations are always appreciated 
