Antique 1920s 🥫 Maryland Chief Peas Label NOS J. Langrall & Bro Baltimore

This antique 1920s Maryland Chief Brand Extra Sifted Early Peas label is a rich slice of Baltimore grocery history. 🥫
Printed for J. Langrall & Bro. Inc., it shows a heaping mound of peas against a deep blue sky, flanked by Maryland Chief banners and a tall panel of cooking directions that quietly place it in the Prohibition era.

📏 Details
🧷 Approx. 11" x 4 1/2"
✨ NOS (New Old Stock) – original unused cannery label, not a modern reprint
🎨 Early‑20th‑century lithography with deep blues, bright greens, and gold text

The directions mention peas packed in “liquor” and warn not to let them reach a full boil. In ordinary kitchen language it meant cooking liquid, but in the 1920s, with national Prohibition in force and Maryland refusing to pass its own enforcement law, even that word had extra weight.

Maryland became known as one of the most stubbornly anti‑Prohibition states, and this simple peas label reflects that world—food companies doing business as usual in a very unusual time.

Over the decades, designs changed and most Maryland Chief labels were glued to cans and thrown away. A few bundles of unused labels survived in storage, and that’s where NOS examples like this come from.

🏡 Perfect for

• 🥫 Framing in a kitchen, pantry, dining room, or café

• 🍸 Hanging near a home bar as a quiet Prohibition talking piece

• 📚 Adding depth to Baltimore, Maryland, or food‑history collections

Museums and art schools now exhibit labels like this to show how good everyday lithography once was. Bringing one into your home lets you enjoy the art and the story up close. My pictures don’t capture all the warmth and detail—this label looks even better in person. 🌙