Vintage 1970s Small Black Zinfandel Crate Label – Escalon, California

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Original 1970s grape crate label printed with the cooperative's name — VICTOR FRUIT GROWERS., ESCALON, CALIFORNIA — set with no verb beside it at all, so the sheet does not say what part they played; and no printer is named on it.

This label measures 13 inches × 4 inches and was used on California grape cartons during the later years of the cooperative’s operation.

This is a New Old Stock example, unused and unmounted, with strong original color and clean edges. Stored flat.

Victor Fruit Growers was incorporated in 1951 and operated as a cooperative serving growers in the northern San Joaquin Valley. The organization was known for packing both fresh‑market table grapes and juice‑grape varieties, including grapes marketed specifically for home winemaking.

Small Black Zinfandel labels are collected for their varietal specificity and representation of California’s post‑war grape‑packing industry.

🏷️ What Is Printed on This Label

Read off the sheet itself, verbatim — this is the label's own printed text, not a description of it:

• REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.
• SMALL BLACK
• BRAND
• ZINFANDEL
• PRODUCT OF U.S.A.
• VICTOR FRUIT GROWERS.
• ESCALON, CALIFORNIA

The sheet is a long narrow lug strip with a pink outer edge, white and black rules and a red ground. Two yellow scroll banners carry the brand at the left and the varietal at the right, with grapevines and blue-purple clusters filling the ground between them. At the centre, in its own arched white-bordered frame, is a painted vignette of a seated infant against a rainbow sunburst on a green field — the label's whole subject, and the reason for its name.

No printer's imprint appears anywhere — the bottom edge and both corners were swept — and no net weight is printed on this sheet, which is unusual for a grape lug label. There is no printed date; the 1970s dating rests on the trade record and the owner's notes.