THE HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON STATE APPLE INDUSTRY, 1880-1930 By AMANDA L

245 Pages·2009·2.33 MB·English

by  Amanda Van Lanen

“WE HAVE GROWN FINE FRUIT WHETHER WE WOULD OR NO”:
THE HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON STATE
APPLE INDUSTRY, 1880-1930
By
AMANDA L. VAN LANEN
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Department of History
MAY 2009
© Copyright by AMANDA L. VAN LANEN, 2009
All Rights Reserved
© Copyright by AMANDA L. VAN LANEN, 2009
All Rights Reserved
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To the Faculty of Washington State University:
The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of
AMANDA L. VAN LANEN find it satisfactory and recommend that it be
accepted.
_________________________________
Orlan Svingen, Ph.D., Chair
_________________________________
Jerry Gough, Ph.D.
_________________________________
Robert McCoy, Ph.D.
_________________________________
Jill McCluskey, Ph.D.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This could not have been possible without help and guidance from several
individuals.
I would like to thank the members of my committee, Professors Orlan Svingen,
Jerry Gough, Robert McCoy, and Jill McCluskey for the time they spent carefully
reading and commenting on drafts of this work. For their help and advice I am very
grateful. I would also like to thank Professor David Coon for guidance during the early
stages of this project. The idea for this project was born out of an agricultural history
seminar, and Dr. David Coon and my fellow classmates, Cynthia Kaag and Marc Entze,
provided useful discussions and critical feedback. Thanks also to Dr. David Stratton.
Working with him on the history of Tree Top, Inc. has furthered my knowledge of the
apple industry in Washington state.
Special thanks to all the archivists who assisted me with finding materials for this
project. Thanks to the archival staff at the Minnesota Historical Society for guiding me
through the extensive collections of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railways.
The size of my photocopy order was a running joke with the staff by the end of my time
there, but the entire staff went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure I found
everything I needed. Thanks to the University of Washington Library Manuscript and
Special Collections division for guiding me through the Thomas Burke’s papers. Also,
thanks to Dr. Charles Mutschler of Eastern Washington University for sharing his
knowledge of railroading.
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Finally I would like to thank my family and friends for their love, patience, and
support throughout this project. Thanks especially to my parents for indulging my love of
reading at an early age. Thanks also to my grandparents for their encouragement. Finally
thanks to my husband for suffering through too many cartons of Chinese take-out
because I was too busy to cook. He took time away from his own dissertation to discuss
mine, and now that I am finished, I can return the favor.
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“WE HAVE GROWN FINE FRUIT WHETHER WE WOULD OR NO”:
THE HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON STATE
APPLE INDUSTRY, 1880-1930
Abstract
By Amanda L. Van Lanen, Ph.D.
Washington State University
May 2009
Chair: Orlan J. Svingen
By the 1920s, Washington had surpassed New York as the leading apple-
producing state in the nation. While boosters argued that the state’s success was due to
favorable natural conditions, the development of the fruit industry was also the result of
corporate investment, real estate promotion, science and technology, the construction of
large infrastructure systems, and modern marketing methods. In short, the combined
efforts of the railroads, real estate boosters, agricultural colleges, growers cooperatives,
and individual farmers working toward the common goal of growing high quality apples
made the industry successful.
The period from 1890 to 1930 was an era of experimentation as experts studied
various aspects of the apple industry from planting trees to consumer purchases. In this
respect, the Washington apple industry was part of the national trend toward
industrialization and consolidation. Washington was 3,000 miles from eastern markets, so
it benefited from the construction of transcontinental rail lines and the increased demand
for commercially-grown fruit in urban areas. Irrigation projects turned the sage-covered
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Yakima and Wenatchee valleys of central Washington into the most profitable apple-
growing regions in the state. Scientific and technological advancements allowed farmers
to grow high-quality, pest-free fruit.
In response to high shipping costs, growers adopted modern marketing and
advertising methods, such as branded labels, print ads, and recipe booklets, to convince
consumers to pay more for Washington apples when less expensive, eastern apples were
plentiful. Growers set Washington apples apart by emphasizing standardization, and they
formed cooperatives that worked closely with the railroads to enforce high quality
grading standards, coordinate shipments, and open new markets for their fruit. Initially,
dozens of varieties were grown in Washington, by the 1930s, as part of the trend toward
standardization, only four key varieties were grown commercially. Despite their
reluctance, these orchardists gradually moved toward industrialization, and by the 1920s,
Washington growers had become the leading apple-producing state in the nation.
This study uses the corporate records of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific
Railways, local newspapers, agricultural bulletins from Washington State College, and
Better Fruit, the leading horticultural magazine in the Pacific Northwest.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………….... iii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………. v
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………….………………….….. viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ………………………………….………………………. ix
INTRODUTION ……………………………………………………………………..… 1
CHAPTER
1. How the Apple Came to Washington……………………………………… 15
2. Orchards for Dummies: Settlement, Boosterism, and Railroad Promotion,
1890-1910………………………………………………….………………. 45
3. Saplings, Sprays, and Specialization: Taming the Natural Environment …. 84
4. “Handle the apples as though they were eggs”: Establishing
Transcontinental Markets, 1910-1929…………………………………..… 126
5. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”: Advertising, 1910-1929.....…….. 171
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………….… 209
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..… 222
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LIST OF TABLES
1. Number of Apples Shipped from Wenatchee, 1902-1930 …………………………131
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Men Using Barrel Sprayer ……………………………………………………. ….…99
2. Men Using Mechanical Sprayer ……………………………………………………100
3. Apple Calyx ………………………………………………………………………...106
4. Early Skookum Advertisement ……………………………………………………. 187
5. Early Skookum Advertisement ……………………………………………………. 195
6. Skookum Advertisement with Indian Logo ……………………………………….. 196
7. Advertisement from “Eat Wenatchee Apples” Campaign ………………………… 206