Notes
This frame shows a cart loaded with Davidson Fruit Company strawberry crates at the Hood River depot, ready for shipment to the Portland market. I cropped it very tight so you could see the label on the crates, but I left the railcar for Arlen.
I like the way the strawberry is in silhouette against Mt. Hood, floating over the Hood River.
The upper right crate us stamped "A.A. Jayne Hood River." I know Davidson had his own box company by 1904, so I don't think that is a box manufacturer. In fact, A. A. Jayne was a local businessman or attorney and by 1905 he was a state representative in Salem, so perhaps the stamp means these berries came from his farm.
Category: [Downtown Hood River]
Tags: agriculture Davidson depot railroad strawberries train
Comments
Any idea what the smaller "pint" baskets are made from and were those also produced locally?
Will on 27th October 2022 @ 7:27am
thanks Arthur.....LOVE the boxcar. great memories of picking HR strawberrys and how much I learned from that stoop labor experience.
Arlen L Sheldrake on 27th October 2022 @ 9:00am
Don't think I've seen such a short RR car, or is just my eyes?
nels on 27th October 2022 @ 9:12am
Interesting that you should bring that up Will. As a kid I remember berry baskets made of thin sliced wood stapled into a berry holding shape.
nels on 27th October 2022 @ 9:15am
With a cropped image it is hard to be totally sure but it appears that the photographer used a long lens and and small aperture to get a very long depth of field. I feel like we may be looking north east and that the hill in the top right corner of the image may be east of Bingen but I don't recognize the steep canyon wall on the right side.
Basaltgrouse on 27th October 2022 @ 9:57am
Steep rock wall is by HR Sand and Gravel.
Melody Shellman on 27th October 2022 @ 10:34am
Yes, Melody is correct-- the camera is pointed ENE. The cliff is on the Oregon side and the hillside in the background is well east of Bingen.
ArthurB on 27th October 2022 @ 12:24pm
I should have been clearer when I said this is "cropped tight"-- you are seeing a small detail, maybe 10% or less of the print. It was a nice sharp print so I thought I would let you enjoy this detail without the context. The image shows a cart full of berries on a platform at the depot, with the tracks running off to the east. I think this may be one of the Benjamin Gifford images for the Commercial Club, but it has been removed from the binding so I can't be sure. But it has a matting and numbering consistent with that collection.
ArthurB on 27th October 2022 @ 12:44pm
I recall in the 1960's the little wooden baskets for the berries were called hallocks, with 12 hallocks to the full flat. By the time I was picking strawberries in the 1970's they had gone to the one piece plastic flats, which were probably a lot easier for the cannery to handle.
kmb on 27th October 2022 @ 6:22pm
That particular type of hillock was formed from two pieces of veneer. One piece was bent so as to run down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side. The second piece was the same, run at right angle across the bottom and up on two remaining sides. There was a metal strip crimped around the top that held the whole thing together, thus they were called "tin-tops." They were used for berries going direct to fresh market.
Jack on 30th October 2022 @ 7:44am