|
Retro Crate Label
Kitchen Art in the News
Vintage
Fruit and Vegetable Crate & Can Labels
Now Appreciated As Artwork
Beautiful,
funny and sometimes racy, fruit and vegetable labels were
created to catch the eye of American consumers in the produce
department. Beginning in the late 1800's farmers and merchants
used artwork of colorful fruits and exotic vegetables to entice
customers.
Before becoming available as framed art, some cooks took their
favorite labels off cans or crates themselves to frame and hung them up
in kitchens and
restaurants. Today fruit and vegetable labels are collected for
their beauty and are
exhibited at museums and kitchens around the Untied States.
Some early can labels had gold foil and used expensive embossed
papers. Larger food labels, known as crate labels were glued to
the
ends of produce crates as they were shipped out of the fields to
market. Artist created sun drenched landscapes and used bright
colors to make their produce stand out.
Drawing on the romance of
the Old West, some brands had names like Bronco, Western Queen
and Majestic. Gods and royalty are represented in stone
lithographs against dramatic landscapes. On one label, Triton the
sea god sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Washington
state. In others, glowing oranges are set against romantic
sunsets and bright red strawberries tumble over a serene California
farmland. Giant artichokes floating over choppy seas and tomato
ranches grace other labels.
Today, crate label artwork is still found in modern kitchens - except
it
is kept on the wall. This early form of advertising art is
perfect for the kitchen and adds a retro touch of home to
offices. And it just might help us to remember to eat our apple a
day.
Here is a link to an online exhibition of California Crate Labels by The
California Historical Society.
|
|
|
Thanks for dropping by!
