Historic Hood River
Award Winning Apples
1-27-2017
Notes
Here’s a nice ending to our week of 1910 Benjamin Gifford images promoting agriculture in the Hood River Valley. It looks like E. H. Shepard has won several awards with his apple display. I don’t know if this is a local agricultural fair or a national one. Hood River apples (and now pears) have had a national presence since this era.
Charlott
Hood River orchardists shipped their fruit to all types of fairs, both state wide and national wide. Hard to tell whether this is a local type fair or a big one. I know my own great-grandfather had fruit on display at the World’s Fair in St. Louis. In fact he traveled to it, stopping in Illinois to visit family and one of his cousins decided to accompany him to the fair. I have articles and some items from that trip.
A lot of orchardists from all over gathered at some of the larger fairs to discuss their fruit, growing methods and such. One other place that was very into the production of apples and still is is a belt of land just north of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I stopped and visited at the largest apple packing plant on the east coast, called Rice’s. Quite a set up they have….
Stever
Is that some Oregon Grape on the left and sage bush on the right perhaps …
L.E.
When I was a kid, walking around the county or state fair, I always thought these displays were really boring.
charlott
I agree L. E. kids eyes see things in a different perspective than an adult. Kids were more interested in getting to the rides and the cotton candy…
I find it interesting that all their packs are 2×2 and none 3×2. If you notice they have various size of apples per box………
Dean Fletcher
I have at least a dozen WF Layaway photos of this same apple show. Including a picture of what looks like this exact same display (although showing only a single prize cup) I will see about putting together all of the WF Laraway apple display pictures into a single collection and post them on my Facebook page and on Flicker so they can be accessed.
Here’s the link on my Facebook page showing the WFL picture of the same display. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=110586875672201&set=a.110584515672437.13576.100001626679958&type=3&theater
Dean Fletcher
I should add that I think that WFL supplied these prize cups, since, as I recall, I have a picture of the prize cups as a window display in the WF Laraway shop in Hood River. Which also means that it would have been WFL who supplied the cups and the engraving, most likely.
And, I’m reasonably sure that this was in Hood River.