Here's another very scarce southern California jar, embossed SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PACKING CO.LOS ANGELES,CAL. This photo was posted on the Antique-Bottles.net Forum by fruit jar collector Tammy Johnson (of FruitJarRings.com).
Besides this jar, the only other mention of a SCPCo jar that I found was one that sold on ebay in 2008. It was 48oz., and had a paper label, but sadly, there is no photo on the Worthpoint-archived listing.
"JAR: 48 OZ. Clear with a few bubbles,ground lip,strong embossing and label. EMBOSSING: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PACKING CO.LOS ANGELES,CAL. around palm tree and building and the word "OURS" on both jar and lid. LID: Embossed glass lid with zinc screw band with handle. LABEL: Gold,brown, and green. Very decorative. -- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PACKING COMPANY / BLACKBERRY JAM / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA"
Here are some photos of wonderful fruits and jellies and jars displays at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where the Los Angeles Herald reported that: "The Southern California Packing Company will make an immense display of orange marmalade in the California building."
Bonus fact: That elephant is made from walnuts, a wonderfully successful advertising ploy to get more growers to import and grow walnuts in Southern California. Read more: http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/walnutelephant.htm
Photo of the employees of the Southern California Packing Co., Los Angeles, 1895. - Huntington Library Collection [Source]
Del Monte plant, above 1890. [Source]
Below, 1920s. [Source]
The Southern Califonia Packing Company incorporated in 1881, with J.M. Elliott as one of the founders. Listed above as Secretary and a Director, John Mackay Elliott was a noted Los Angeles banker. He was on the Board of Water Commissioners, and prominent in the Owens River project.
Bonus Fact: Water supply being a serious issue for California, you may remember the Owens River project was a huge part of the Chinatown (movie) plot.
There are many mentions and advertisements in newspapers and journals circa 1880s and 1890s, but by 1902 the company was listed, along with so many others, as now being part of the California Fruit Canners' Association, as was Del Monte (see label below).
The SCPCo. had tried to stay independent. In 1899, The San Francisco Call newspaper reported them as one of 3 companies holding out [source].
"A New Combination of Fruit-Packers. TO MAKE A STEADY MARKET THREE LARGE CONCERNS ARE STILL HOLDING OUT. The Corporation Will Endeavor to Minimiza the Cost of Production by Effecting Sweeping i Changes.
Articles of incorporation were filed yesterday for the California Packers' Asso-
elation, with a capital of two and a half million dollars.
The new concern is composed of some of the largest fruit-packing establishments In the State and Its object will be to control and regulate the prices of canned fruits. It will also ship goods to all parts of the world. It is organised on practically the same lines as the Alaska Packers' Association, and the members hep-: to be able to minimize the cost of preparing fruit for shipment and thus dictate prices.
Under the plan agreed upon it is probable that some factories will be closed altogether and others which now can fruits of all kinds will limit their output to a single variety. For instance, factories In cherry-growing districts are now canning net only cherries but peaches, pears and apricots. The fruits not raised In that particular district must be shipped to the country* often at great expense. After having been canned they must be reshipped to the point of distribution, which may be in the neighborhood where they were grown. It is the plan of the corporation i" save this. double shipping bill by treating each variety of fruit in the. portion of the State where it grows in largest quantities. The new concern held a meeting yesterday afternoon and organized with the election of the following directors: A. D. Cutler of the Cutting Fruit Packing Company; M. .1. Fontana of Fontana & Co.; E. 11. Nielson, California Preserving Company; I". Tillmann Jr., Oakland Preserving Company; J. H. Hunt. Hunt Bros. & Co.; R. R. Bentley, Sacramento Packing Company; I. H. Morse of Kins. Morse & Co.; W. H. Wright, San Jose Packing Company; W. J. Hotvhkiss, Russian River Packing Company; James Madison, A. F. Tenny Company; J. Streining, Rose City Canning Company. The concerns which have not entered Into the combination are the Southern California Packing Company, the Pacific Cannery Company and the California Canneries Company."
They gave in and joined in 1900:
"In 1900, the company took over nine more companies, including Rose City Packing Company of Santa Rosa, A. F. Tenney Canning Company in Fresno, Courtland Canning Company, the Whitter Cannery, Chico Canning Company, Lincoln Fruit Packing Company, Sutter Canning & Packing Company, and Southern California Packing Company. "Thus, at the end of the second season, the California Fruit Canners' Association controlled twenty-seven plants in twenty-two cities." About half of the initial plants were in California; the rest were in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii. A list of the 1901 canneries appears in a California board of horticulture biennial report from 1901.
"The California Fruit Canners' Association, which has for years been the dominant factor in the canning business on the Pacific Coast,..." [Source]
The CFC Ass'n. was just one of the many California fruit producers and packers groups that merged individual growers businesses in the late 1800's to early 1900's. And those groups all eventually folded into the giant packer's conglomerate, The California Packing Corporation.
Formed in 1899, nicknamed CalPak, it grew into what is today's Del Monte mega-brand.
More California Packing company history, which mentions the Del Monte brand name's having originated with the Oakland Preserving Company, here.
Another article on Del Monte's history here.
Del Monte the brand is named after the famous Del Monte Hotel that was built in Monterey in 1881.
You can buy CalPak labels from The Label Man
More Bonus Facts:
- There was a 1930 court case over who got to keep and use the precious Del Monte trademark name. California Packing vs Tillman
- And a legal battle over the Sun Maid Raisins name, and GIRL. California Packing vs Sun Maid Growers
- The Sun Maid Raisin Girl was REAL. She was named Lorraine Collett. More here - wikipedia and on Mental Floss
- Famous CANNERY ROW in Monterey, California was named that after John Steinbeck wrote his famous novel.
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