Historical Photographs

Fruit Packing

The innovation of refrigerated rail transportation in the 1880s radically changed the fruit industry. Instead of selling fresh products to local markets and canning the rest for shipping elsewhere, fresh fruits could now be packed and shipped throughout the country. The fruit industry boomed. Land that had been used to grow wheat were converted to more profitable fruit crops. By 1930, the Pacific region was producing almost 40% of the nation's deciduous fruit supply. (source: Contract Evolusion and Institutional Innovation: The American Fresh Fruit Industry from 1890 to 1930 by Carolyn Dimitri)

Source: GKime Collection: 1153