Historic Hood River

Comments

1. nels

   7th January 2017 @ 12:59 AM

   Looks like a strawberry patch in the foreground.

2. L.E.

   7th January 2017 @ 02:58 AM

   That’s odd. Why were there two photos for January 6?
   Not that I am complaining. The more the merrier.
   Is the boy coming in from the field carrying a hallock, or was a hallock the small baskets that went inside?

3. Ralph

   7th January 2017 @ 08:10 AM

   The boy is holding a carrier.
   It’s been more than 50 years since I’ve picked strawberries.
   So if my memory serves me:
   A carrier holds 6 hallocks
   Flats were made of wood, single layered for ease of stacking.
   Not like the boxes in the picture
   A flat holds 2 carriers or 12 hallocks.
   A good picker could carry 4 carriers by looping the handles over the
   Upright part and standing in the middle of the created square with
   1 carrier in each hand and 1 in front and 1 in back.
   In the 1950’s you would be paid $.25 cents per carrier or $.50 cents a flat
   If you picked 10 flats you’d be paid $5.00, stopping at McDonalds
   After picking you could get a hamburger fries and a shake and get
   Change back from your dollar!

4. Arlen Sheldrake

   7th January 2017 @ 09:29 AM

   thanks Ralph for bring back the memory of picking strawberrys……great lesion that I still remember….stoop labor was not a vocation I desired to pursue.

5. Arthur

   7th January 2017 @ 09:41 AM

   I knew this would happen some day. I usually prepare a bunch of posts at one time and schedule them for future display. I prepared 11 new posts yesterday but forgot to change the date on this one.

   This was more of a "draft" for a post. I usually rework them when I decide to schedule them for publication. At any one time there are 70-80 draft posts waiting to be finalized and scheduled for publication.

   Here’s a little background. About 1910 the Hood River Commercial Club hired Benjamin Gifford to help promote orchard land in the HR Valley. We have 3 albums of 8×10 prints covering every aspect of orchards. I’m thinking of posting a series of them next week or the week after.

   I think Nels is correct identifying this as a strawberry operation, not apples. Most of the Gifford photos are apple orchards, but a handful are strawberry.

6. Stever

   7th January 2017 @ 02:08 PM

   As I recall …. strawberries were planted while the fruit trees matured …. I spy a few young trees … anyone else … ?

7. L.E.

   7th January 2017 @ 02:20 PM

   Thanks Ralph. The reason I asked about the carrier is I have an old wooden one that my mom painted and decorated. It looks like what he is carrying. I didn’t realize it was a strawberry carrier.

8. Arthur

   7th January 2017 @ 02:28 PM

   All sorts of row crops were planted between rows of young fruit trees. I’ve seen records of everything from asparagus to tomatoes.

   Some day I’ll post a close-up picture of the strawberry carrier to refresh Ralph’s memory. Hopefully they are pleasant memories.

9. Leo Keizur

   11th June 2017 @ 07:23 PM

   I picked enough for 5 dollars one day near Dee.. Usually, seemed like, the girls got all of the best rows.