{"product_id":"antique-1930s-summit-mountain-bartlett-pears-crate-label-colfax-ca","title":"Antique 1930s Summit Brand Mountain Bartlett Pears Crate Label 🏔️ — Colfax Fruit Growers Assn., Blue Anchor, Placer \u0026 Nevada Counties","description":"\u003ch2\u003eWho Packed Summit Brand Pears? 🏔️ Summit Brand Mountain Bartlett Pears, Colfax Fruit Growers Assn., Colfax, California\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11\" x 7\" ~ Little to no wear. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/koTVfycZ1b8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eSuch a cool (pun intended) label, which used Mountain snow before refrigeration to keep their produce fresh in railcars for transport to market, making them very desirable and sought after. This is an antique 1930s Summit Brand Mountain Bartlett Pears crate label, shipped by the Colfax Fruit Growers Association of Colfax, California, and sold under the Blue Anchor of the California Fruit Exchange. A big snowy peak rises under a blue sky over dark pines and a hillside orchard, SUMMIT runs across in huge yellow letters outlined in red, and MOUNTAIN BARTLETT PEARS sits on a light blue panel, with two yellow seals in the lower corners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🏷️ What's Printed on It\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSUMMIT BRAND\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMOUNTAIN BARTLETT PEARS\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNET WEIGHT 46 LBS.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBLUE ANCHOR, CALIFORNIA FRUIT EXCHANGE (the seal at lower left)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCOLFAX FRUIT GROWERS ASSN., COLFAX-CALIF., SUMMIT BRAND, PEARS, PLACER \u0026amp; NEVADA COUNTIES (the seal at lower right)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTRADE MARK REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSCHWABACHER-FREY S.F. (the printer, in tiny type at the lower left)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bartlett is the pear the English call the Williams, and it took its American name from Enoch Bartlett of Dorchester, Massachusetts, who grew it and passed it around back in the early 1800s. Up in the Sierra foothills it became a mountain fruit, and \"Mountain Bartletts\" were a selling point all their own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🚂 Colfax, Camp 20 on the Central Pacific\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColfax began as Camp 20 on the Central Pacific Railroad, right next to the old Gold Rush camp of Illinoistown, and in 1865 it took the name of Vice President Schuyler Colfax, who came through that year to look over the railroad's progress. Orchards came early. Enos Mendenhall set out one of the first in the area in 1850, the Sacramento Union was already reporting a new fruit shipping house in Colfax by 1890, and early in the 1900s the local growers organized the Colfax Fruit Growers Association. Colfax was also the southern end of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad from 1876 to 1942.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe whole game was keeping the fruit cold. In 1926 the Southern Pacific put an icing platform right in town as part of the Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator-car network, and the growers packed and shipped out of the Fruit Exchange Building on Railroad Street, beside the SP tracks. By the 1920s thousands of crates a year were going out of there, and the packing carried on until the early 1950s, when mechanical refrigeration took over. The old building still stands downtown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e⚓ The Blue Anchor\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Colfax growers marketed through the California Fruit Exchange, the co-op that incorporated on May 1, 1901 with member associations from Loomis, Newcastle and Penryn. George H. Cutter suggested the anchor by 1903, it went into use in 1904, and in 1923 it was registered as the trademark for the Exchange's best fruit. The California State Railroad Museum keeps Colfax Fruit Growers labels in its collection, and the Boston Public Library has the association's Sun Smile pear label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🏡 Display\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCrate 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImagine this amazing vintage advertising hanging as home decor in any room of your home instead of a museum! That snowy peak looks great in a cabin, a kitchen or a den, and it's a perfect gift for anybody from Colfax, Grass Valley or the Placer and Nevada County foothills.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-1930s-summit-mountain-apples-crate-label-colfax-ca-snow-pack\"\u003eAntique 1930s Summit Mountain Apples Crate Label 🍎 Colfax, CA, Snow Pack!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-1950s-mayflower-crate-label-exeter-ca-christopher-columbus-america\"\u003eVintage 1950s Mayflower Brand Crate Label ⛵ California Fruits, Mayflower Fruit Ass'n, Exeter California, Blue Anchor Galleon Art\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/1940s-quail-crate-label-california-fruit-exchange-vintage-treasures\"\u003eVintage 1940s Quail Brand Crate Label 🍐 Contra Costa Bartlett Pears, Blue Anchor California Fruit Exchange, Valley Quail Bird Art\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47459448127720,"sku":"VAG-9173931000040","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/il_fullxfull.7046159019_gifq.jpg?v=1785443286","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-1930s-summit-mountain-bartlett-pears-crate-label-colfax-ca","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}