Here are two mid-1930s postcards advertising fancy fruit gift packages from Indian Rocks Fruits, Inc. and Rancho Margarita. Florida is a big citrus producing state, and the mid-1930s was a time when auto travel to Florida was increasing. Roadside shops sprang up along the highway where tourists could stop and buy fruit to eat and ship.
The prices seem absurdly low now, especially considering that they included shipping. The largest size in a wooden crate was 90 pounds and cost only $7.50 from Rancho Margarita.
The Orange Blossom Groves postcard below is a circa 1950 example of one of the shops. The first Orange Blossom Groves location was opened in 1946, and the one in Clearwater was opened three years later. This is now closed, as are most of the old Florida tourist-oriented roadside citrus attractions.
The Orange Shop shown in the video below opened in 1936 and is still in business. Their current "free shipping specials" of approximately 27 pounds. cost over $70.
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I do like a bit of marmalade and I fear our cupboard is bare.
ReplyDeleteGreat postcards fitting the prompt picture perfectly. Your mention of how much it cost to ship the fruit brought to mind my attempt to mail a Christmas present, representative of California, to ScotSue several (like 20) years ago when we had first begun corresponding with each other. What could say 'California' better than avocados, I thought! So I packaged 3 nice big ones in a box filled with straw & took them to the post office. To my shock, by air, it would have cost $30. to mail them. Back then I could have sent them 'surface mail' for considerably less, but it might take up to a couple of months for them to get there & I could just imagine poor Sue opening a box of black guacamole! So I sent her some California poppy seeds instead. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are great postcards. It's hard to fathom fruit being so cheap!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Arizona where we had citrus trees. The grapefruit would be just about ready to pick now. Nothing like walking into the backyard and plucking grapefruit for breakfast. Now I have to settle for grocery store grapefruit-and it costs more than 5 cents.
ReplyDeleteA super set of postcards to match the theme and the video was a wonderful story. I can remember many people who would winter in Florida and then bring box of oranges back as gifts. My mom still uses a vintage 1950's Grapefruit shipping box to store family photos.
ReplyDeleteWhile out on the truck, I discovered that I liked oranges from Florida a lot more than I did those from California. For the Florida ones are generally much sweeter.
ReplyDeleteI remember buying an orange a day while I was in college at a cost of 10cents. I still can't get used to what they cost now.
ReplyDeleteA great collection of postcards to match the prompt.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they ship to the UK! As always, the cards are perfect examples of the art of postcard production - there is something about the mid-century style - it's the kind of blocky shapes and colours - that is so unmistakeable. Lovely card, lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI’d love to receive that de luxe box, 'beautifully packged in cellophane'. dandies fruits- that’s so ...Christmas!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post cards. Now I wish I'd used some of the famous Sunkist labels for the prompt.
ReplyDeleteI really like it when relatives send us fruit at Christmas time, sometimes I think they believe that it gets old but never for me!
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely looking boxes of fruit you have there! We've just been on a driving trip from one state to another, where we saw plenty of roadside vans selling boxes of fruit along the way. We bought boxes of cherries and mangoes, which were both very good. We had to eat them up before coming back, because you can't bring fruit across the state border from NSW to Victoria due to the risk of fruit fly contamination.
ReplyDeleteGreat Cards! I thought California was the US state for oranges?
ReplyDeleteI love all these cards! Thank you so much for sharing, and Happy 2016.
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