Fruit crates
It appears that apples were the first fruit transported in wooden crates with colorful labels on the ends to advertise where the apples came from. In fact, my color-blind uncle, who was what was then called a “commercial artist,” designed some of those labels as well as many Del Monte and other fruit cans.
Since apples were grown according to what the terroir of a region could produce and could last the longest among fresh fruits during shipping, apple crate labels often boasted pretty women with (the forbidden) apples to attract store buyers and customers, even ending up on calendars here and there.
Once railroads crossed the United States and refrigerated cars were invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pole tomatoes could be “shipped.” And then came potato chips and even popcorn in tins.
Fresh and not-yet-ripe produce could also be shipped across the country from Sebastopol and Yakima Valley all the way to New York.
Cardboard boxes with corrugated innards replaced wooden fruit crates in the 1950s. For a few years they were still adorned with artistic labels, but little of that carries to today. Hopefully the cardboard boxes get recycled or even reused.
Antique and new prints and copies of fruit crate labels are widely collected. Some people even paper bathroom walls with crate labels.