Giffen Incorporated Records csf.2004.001
Processing of this collection was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives program.
Special Collections Research Center, California State University, Fresno
12/23/2011
5200 North Barton Avenue, M/S ML 34
Fresno, CA, 93740-8014
(559) 278-2595
specialc@listserv.csufresno.edu
Title: Giffen Incorporated
Identifier/Call Number: csf.2004.001
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections Research Center, California State University, Fresno
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
78.25 Linear feet
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1946-1983
Date (inclusive): 1911-2000
creator:
Giffen, Russell
creator:
Giffen, Ruth Price
creator:
Giffen, Wylie
Russell Giffen was born on April 23, 1902 to Wylie and May Giffen, the last of four children. Wylie Giffen was a farmer in
the Mendota area and a major player in the grape and raisin industry in the early 20th century. In 1924 Russell Giffen married
Ruth Price. Giffen farmed on leased land near Arvin, California, during the 1920s, until the depression hit and he moved to
Mendota to help on his father's farm. A difference in opinion regarding cotton irrigation resulted in Russell Giffen going
into business for himself again, this time doing custom farm tillage and gleaning harvested cotton fields.
Around 1934 Giffen leased 640 acres of farmland in the Cantua Creek area of Western Fresno County. Seeking financing to drill
a well, Giffen contacted R.V. Johnson, the crop finance vice president of Anderson, Clayton & Co (ACCO). ACCO refused to finance
the well, but Johnson personally advanced the money needed. This 640-acre farm was the beginning of the what would become
known as Russell Giffen and Company. The farming operation started with 640 acres and expanded to 54,000 by World War II.
During the war, taxes approaching 90% on Giffen's farming operation led to the operations' earnings being less than the capital
debt payments. ACCO agreed to carry the finance disparity, but once the war ended Giffen decided to sell in order to become
more financially secure. After offering the sale to ACCO rival Producer's Cotton Oil Co., ACCO agreed to purchase the farming
operation, setting Russell Giffen up as the farm manager for 18 months.
Finding being ACCO's farm manager not to his liking, largely due to disagreements with ACCO executives over how the operation
should be managed, Giffen gathered several of his farm management team and started two new business endeavors. The first was
called Giffen Inc., which was also known as Pasajero Farms, and was solely owned by Russell and Ruth Giffen. The second operation
was called Employees Enterprises Inc. and was 85% owned by members of Giffen's farm management group, with the remainder owned
by Russell and Ruth Giffen. Each farm consisted of approximately 10,000 acres, both leased and purchased, with Giffen Inc.
being located near the town of Huron and Employees Enterprises west of Mendota. Another Giffen Inc. operation was later added
at Cantua and the operation grew until totaling 120,000 acres. Of this 120,000 acres, approximately 50,000 was owned by the
two corporations, with the remaining 70,000 being leased. Around half of the leased land was owned by the Southern Pacific
Land Co., with the remainder being a mix of original homesteaders, oil speculators, sheep herders and others.
Giffen Inc. and Employees Enterprises Inc. operated until 1968 solely using well water. As the ground water had high alkalinity
and contained boron, the crops which could be grown on the farms was somewhat limited, with the primary crops being cotton,
cereal grains, melons, alfalfa, tomatoes, potatoes and sugar beets. After receiving canal water in 1968, the Giffen operation
started growing wine grapes and vegetables, but these never became major crops. Long-term irrigation using well water, as
well as irrigating virgin soil containing gypsum caused a significant amount of subsidence, with the company's headquarters
in Huron dropping 9 to 10 feet over the course of 20 years.
In 1953 the stockholders of Employees Enterprises Inc., except for Russell and Ruth Giffen, decided to sell their interest
in the company. Giffen Inc. purchased the remaining stock and Employees Enterprises was folded into Giffen Inc.
In 1957 Russell Giffen and a group of investors bought a property near Gila Bend, Arizona, called the Gillespie Ranch. It
was renamed the Gila River Ranch and consisted of approximately 120,000 acres, with 80,000 being owned and the remainder being
leased. A large portion of the ranch consisted of feedlots for cattle. The main crops grown at the ranch were grain, alfalfa,
safflower and Bermuda grass. Cotton was initially a main crop grown at the ranch but because of government acreage quotas,
Gila River Ranch only had an allotment of 20 acres and all excess cotton was subject to a 50% price penalty, and was forced
to give up cotton as a main crop. Gila River Ranch struggled to make a profit and in 1968 was sold to Northwestern Mutual
Life Insurance Co.
The 1960s were an active time for Giffen Inc. In the early 1960s Giffen Inc. decided it needed to control the ginning of its
cotton crop and to that effect it partnered with neighboring farmers and purchased Kingsburg Cotton Oil Co., with Giffen Inc.
owning a controlling 51% of the stock. The company was renamed Giffen Ginning Inc. Giffen Inc.'s office was also relocated
in the 1960s, moving to the 8th floor of the T.W. Patterson building in Fresno in 1968.
In 1964 Russell Giffen and Giffen Inc. purchased a cattle ranch along the Kings River, near Piedra. Russell Giffen named it
the River Ranch. Crops that were planted included citrus, wine grapes and olives. The rest of the property was used for cattle
grazing. Russell Giffen also built a new home on this property, using it for several events. The farming property was sold
in 1975 to Jack Harris Farms, with Harris also purchasing the home in 1983 after Russell Giffen's death.
In the late 1960's Freeway I-5 was built, with rights of way through the Giffen Inc. properties being bought by the governent.
Also in the late 1960's acreage allotments were lifted, allowing Giffen Inc. to determine how much cotton they could plant.
Giffen Inc. reached the height of its influence at this point, with Russell Giffen being a major player in the cotton industry
and being able to obtain changes in legislation through Congressman Bernie Sisk.
From early on in Giffen Inc.'s history there had been much interest in oil and gas exploration and various oil ventures leased
mineral rights on Giffen Inc. property, sometimes with Russell Giffen as a financing partner. Several exploratory wells were
drilled, but only minor deposits were found and none proved to be successful. Russell Giffen also invested in an oil and gas
venture in Mexico. Though the area was a proven oil field, it proved to be extremely difficult to get the permits to drill,
with government officials having to be bribed with no success at gaining the permits. Eventually, after 10 to 12 years of
this, the venture was abandoned.
In 1968 Giffen Inc.'s west side properties began receiving canal water provided by the Bureau of Reclamation. Accepting reclaimed
water meant that Giffen Inc. had to enter into a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to comply with the 1902 reclamation
act which limited landowners to 160 acres of land per person or 320 acres per corporation. All additional land receiving reclaimed
water was known as excess land and had to be sold at Bureau approved prices within 10 years. Between 1969 and 1973, Russell
Giffen suffered two heart attacks as well as a minor stroke while horseback riding which caused him to fall and break his
hip, requiring replacement. With Russell Giffen in poor health he decided to sell all Giffen Inc. properties in Westlands
Water District. By 1974 all west side property had been sold to 52 different buyers. In 1976 ownership of the remaining 150
acres of the River Ranch containing the Giffen residence was transferred to Russell and Ruth Price Giffen and Giffen Inc.
was officially defunct.
Russell Giffen maintained an office after the end of Giffen Inc. primarily to complete Giffen Inc. tax documents, and other
paperwork. He often consulted with other west side farmers and agricultural and political figures. Ruth Price Giffen died
in February of 1978. A few years later, Russell Giffen married Blanche O'Brien. In 1982 Russell Giffen was diagnosed with
cancer and died on January 19, 1983.
Adapted from Woolf, Jack.
Giffen Inc., A History From 1946-1976 of Russel Giffen's Ranch, 2000.
The Giffen Incorporated collection measures 78.25 linear feet and dates from 1911 to1983. The collection is arranged in eleven
series: Employees Enterprises, Giffen family-personal, Giffen Ginning Company, Giffen Incorporated, Gila River Ranch, History,
Hunting and fishing permits, Mexico oil and gas venture, River Ranch, Russell Giffen and Company, and Wylie Giffen. This collection
was only processed to the sub-series level.
The
Employees Enterprises series (1946-1980) consists of records of the subsidiary corporation of Giffen Inc. founded by Russell and Ruth Price Giffen,
several of Giffen's former employees, and a few new partners. The series is composed of budgets, ledgers, minutes and stock
certificates, as well as land purchase, lease and sale documents.
The
Giffen family-personal series (1931-1983) is composed largely of materials related to Russell and Ruth Giffen's personal finances, taxes, and estate
as well as a small amount of material related to their children and other relatives.
The
Giffen Ginning Company series (1960-1974)is comprised of materials related to the ginning subsidiary of Giffen Inc. created in order to process
their cotton crop. It is composed of budgets and ledgers.
The
Giffen Incorporated series (1946-1981) is the largest series of the collection by bulk, and consists of all materials created by Giffen Inc.
proper. These include financial records such as bank statements, ledgers and tax records. Also included in this series are
land purchase and sale documents, lease records for land and mineral rights, crop sale information, maps, minutes and stock
certificates.
The Gila River Ranch series (1956-1976) consists of the records of the subsidiary corporation formed by Russell Giffen and
other investors to farm in Arizona. The materials in the series include the articles of incorporation, budget materials, ledgers,
stock certificates, land purchases and sales documents and general subject files.
The
History series (2000) consists of a history and biography of Russell Giffen and his farming operations written by one of his former
employees, Jack Woolf.
The
Hunting and fishing permits series (1967-1973, 1976, 1980) contains correspondence and permission slips granted by Giffen Inc., Employees Enterprises,
Gila River Ranch and the River Ranch.
The
Mexico oil and gas venture series (1941-1942, 1947-1963, 1966-1974, 1978) contains the records of Russell Giffen's unsuccessful attempt to get into
the Mexican petroleum market.
The
River Ranch series (1963-1976, 1979-1983)is comprised of materials related to the last business owned and operated by Russell and Ruth
Giffen. It includes financial records, ledgers, maps, purchase and sale documents and tax files.
The
Russell Giffen and Company series (1928, 1932-1955, 1959) consists of materials related to a farming venture started by Russell Giffen prior to Giffen
Inc. The series consists of financial statements, ledgers, purchase and sale documents, maps, tax documents and subject files.
The
Wylie Giffen series (1911-1937, 1941, 1957-1959) relates to the farming operation owned by Russell Giffen's father, and contains the earliest
materials in the collection. It consists of correspondence, ledgers, tax documents and subject files as well as materials
related to Wylie Giffen's estate.
The collection was donated by Price Giffen through the auspices of Jack Woolf in 2004.
The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.
The collection is open for research.
Giffen Incorporated Collection. Special Collections Research Center, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno.
The National Land for People collection, 1850-1991, Special Collections Research Center, Henry Madden Library, California
State University, Fresno
Processing of the Giffen Incorporated Records was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered by
the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno was
awarded a Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant from 2010-2012, "Uncovering California's Environmental
Collections," in collaboration with eight additional special collections and archival repositories throughout the state and
the California Digital Library (CDL). Grant objectives included processing of over 33 hidden collections related to the state's
environment and environmental history. The collections document an array of important sub-topics such as irrigation, mining,
forestry, agriculture, industry, land use, activism, and research. Together they form a multifaceted picture of the natural
world and the way it was probed, altered, exploited and protected in California over the twentieth century. Finding aids are
made available through the Online Archive of California (OAC).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Carruth, Les
Employees Enterprises.
Giffen Incorporated.
Giffen, Hill
Giffen, Price
Giffen, Ross
Gila River Ranch.
Goforth, Jess
Jertberg, Gilbert
Kimball, Joe
Lowe, Jim
Russell Giffen and Company.
The River Ranch.
Thomas, Jack
Thomas, Lewis
Woolf, Jack
Uncovering California's Environmental Collections Project