Antique 1930s San Marcos Brand Sunkist Lemon Crate Label 🍋 Goleta Lemon Association, Santa Barbara County California

Who Packed San Marcos Brand Lemons? 🍋 San Marcos Brand Lemons from the Goleta Lemon Association

Size: 12 1/2" x 9" ~ Little to no wear.

An Amazing view of an idyllic orchard and valley in Santa Barbara County, California is the centerpiece of this almost antique piece of American memorabilia. Big yellow SAN MARCOS letters run across a deep blue band at the top, and the little framed scene underneath shows purple mountains, green rolling hills, red-roofed farm buildings and row after row of orchard trees. Over on the right sits a bright yellow lemon in a crinkled Sunkist wrapper against a black ground.

My pictures seriously don't do it justice.

🏷️ What's Printed on It

• SAN MARCOS BRAND
• famous SANTA BARBARA COUNTY LEMONS
• Sunkist, on the lemon's paper wrapper
• GROWN AND PACKED BY GOLETA LEMON ASSOCIATION, GOLETA ••• CALIFORNIA
• a tiny Los Angeles lithographer's line down in the lower right corner

The back is blank.

🌄 Goleta, Lemon Country

Goleta sits right next to Santa Barbara on the coast, and for a good long while it was lemon country. The Goleta Lemon Association was formed in 1935 by 60 growers farming 600 acres, and by 1936 it had a packing plant going on La Patera Lane. By 1947 it had grown to 220 growers on 2,300 acres. That plant burned in January 1950, and the one they put up in its place in 1951 was said to be the largest single-unit lemon-processing plant in the world. The association kept at it until 1978, when the packing plant closed.

They packed under a whole lineup of brands, and every one was a grade. Goleta and San Marcos were the top quality, La Patera was extra choice, Schooner, Channel and Arboleda were choice, and Estero was standard. So when a crate showed up wearing this label, the buyer at the other end knew he was getting the association's best fruit.

📜 A Registered Mark Since 1937

The association registered SAN MARCOS as a trademark for fresh citrus fruits. They filed on May 8, 1936, it was registered on January 19, 1937 as Reg. No. 342,469, and they claimed first use on February 19, 1936. That mark is still alive today. It was renewed in 1977, 1997, 2006 and 2016, and now belongs to the Ventura County Lemon Cooperative down in Oxnard.

☀️ Sunkist on the Wrapper

That paper wrapper on the lemon is a story all by itself. The Sunkist name was dreamed up in 1907 by the Lord & Thomas ad agency for the California Fruit Growers Exchange, and the Exchange wrapped its oranges in paper stamped with the Sunkist name. In 1909 they offered a free Sunkist spoon for twelve wrappers, and a million spoons were claimed the very first year. Sunkist was the Exchange's highest grade mark, which suits a top-quality brand like San Marcos just fine. The Exchange changed its own name to Sunkist Growers, Inc. in 1952.

🏞️ An Old Santa Barbara County Name

San Marcos is an old name in these parts. Rancho San Marcos was a 35,573-acre Mexican land grant that Governor Pío Pico gave in 1846 to Nicolas A. Den and Richard S. Den, two brothers who had come over from Ireland, on land that had belonged to Mission Santa Barbara. Local historians tell how San Marcos Pass, the old way over the mountains behind Goleta, linked the Mission with its farm at Rancho San Marcos, and how the stagecoaches climbed it until the coast railroad came through in 1901.

🖼️ Display

Crate Labels are a reminder of a bygone era but the amazing lithography process is unparalleled even to this day in my opinion. Museums and Art Institutes have galleries dedicated to them and more and more collectors are seeking these out to preserve their history. Once the limited supply for sale is gone and on display with collectors or in galleries then they will be very difficult to acquire.

Imagine this amazing vintage advertising hanging as home decor in any room of your home instead of a museum!