One of the quieter “hidden treasures” at the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections is a set of 489 unused bright and beautiful fruit crate labels, dating from the 1910s through the 1970s.
In the early days of the northwest fruit industry, most fruits were packed in wooden slat crates for shipping and sales. In order to make their product stand out from that of their competitors, the companies soon had artists creating bright, eye-catching labels which could be stapled to their crates. However, by the 1950s, cheap mass-produced cardboard boxes came into use and the colorful labels became a thing of the past. They became something for niche collectors to pursue, but otherwise disappeared into history.
Academic archives traditionally preserve items with “enduring historic research value,” primarily written materials, photographs or media which document people or an or event at a given point in time. However, its not hard to argue that the imagery we used to advertise our products speaks to what we, as a culture, found important or attractive, as well as illustrating our blind spots. Native Americans are depicted, but quite often as red-faced caricatures or noble savages. Regional scenery is almost omni-present, and patriotic images of “American greatness” can be found throughout.
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