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Guide to the Oglesby Citrus Label Collection
H.Mss.1053
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Table of contents
Title: Oglesby Citrus Label Collection
Dates: circa 1890s-2014
Collection number: H.Mss.1053
Collector:
Oglesby, Alice
Collector:
Oglesby, Larry C.
Extent:
0.8 linear feet
(2 oversized document boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library. Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: This collection of over 80 citrus labels from southern California date from as early as the 1890s and was collected by Alice
and Professor Larry Oglesby, long-time Claremont residents. Professor Oglesby was Professor Emeritus of Biology at Pomona
College. The bulk of the collection originates primarily from Claremont and Pomona, California. Several books on citrus labels
were also donated as part of the collection.
This collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Oglesby Citrus Label Collection (H.Mss.1053). Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont
University Consortium.
Gift from Alice S. Oglesby, 2014.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processed by Phoebe Huth in 2014 in the Claremont Center for Engagement with Primary Sources (CCEPS), with assistance from
Lisa Crane. This collection was minimally processed. Materials are in their original mylar sleeves and retain their original
folder titles and organization. Monograph items were removed from the collection, added to Special Collections' monograph
collection and cataloged in the Claremont Colleges Library online catalog. These items can be located in the online catalog
using the keyword search term “Oglesby Citrus Label Collection”.
Biographical/Historical Information
Long-time Claremont residents, the late Professor Larry Oglesby and his wife, Alice began collecting Claremont and North Pomona
labels sometime around 1990. They first became interested when Claremont Heritage started selling some of the more common
Claremont labels, such as the "Athlete" labels and others relating to The Claremont Colleges. As history enthusiasts, the
beauty of the labels' artwork and their connections to local history really appealed to the Oglesbys.
Sometime in the early 1990s, the Oglesbys started attending the Citrus Label Society meetings every three months, especially
those that were held at the Sunkist headquarters off the 101 freeway in Los Angeles. There the Oglesbys met a number of other
people who were interested in labels. Before long, those selling labels started watching specifically for Claremont and North
Pomona labels for the Oglesbys. Through this method, the Oglesbys were able to fill in any gaps in their collection by purchasing
essentially every label offered from areas they didn't already have. The vast majority of the labels were purchased between
1990 and 2001 with a few as late as 2005. Several members of the Citrus Label Society "thought it was a good thing that these
older Claremont and North Pomona labels were going back to Claremont."
When Pomona First Federal Savings and Loan started producing citrus label calendars, the Oglesbys discovered that the calendars
helped them to find out about some other local labels that they hadn't known about. Box 2, folder 8 contains a "Morning Glory"
citrus label as well as its calendar counterpart. The calendar label differs slightly from the authentic citrus label including
the name of the packing house.
Source: Oglesby, Alice. "Re: Invitation to the CCEPS final presentation." Message to Lisa L. Crane. 13 Dec. 2014. E-mail.
Larry C. Oglesby was born in Corvallis, Oregon on March 26, 1936, the son of Loris Calmer Oglesby and Margaret Elaine Williams.
Oglesby attended Oregon State University where he completed his undergraduate degree in botany. He obtained his mater's degree
in zoology from Florida State University in 1960. In 1964 he completed a doctoral degree in zoology at the Unversity of California,
Berkeley. During this same year, he met Alice Shoemaker, a microbiology graduate student from Lawton, Oklahoma, who would
later become his wife. In 1968, Professor Oglesby joined the Pomona College faculty, where he spent 30 years as professor
of biology. He died on April 16, 2001 in Claremont, survived by his wife, Alice Oglesby; two sons, Ian Bruce Oglesby and David
Douglas Oglesby; and their respective families.
Source: "Larry Oglesby, Ecological physiologist".
Claremont Courier 21 Apr. 2001: obituaries. Print
This collection contains over 80 citrus labels from southern California from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The labels predominately originate from Claremont and North Pomona, California from as early as the 1890s and until the 1950s.
In addition, the collection provides some historical insight into the culture of these areas through the art depicted on the
labels, including artistic renditions of local packing houses, students and athletes from The Claremont Colleges, and Native
Americans.
This collection is organized at the item level. Each item is sleeved, placed in its own folder and the folders are arranged
in alphabetical order by citrus label name.
Related materials providing information on citrus, fruit and other produce industries may be found in the following collections
in the Honnold/Mudd Library Special Collections:
•H.Mss.0243 Crookshank Grove, LaVerne Orange and Lemon Association records
•H.Mss.0205 Honnold/Mudd Library Produce Label Collection
•H.Mss.0169 Samuel J. Carroll Papers
•H.Mss.0726 San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce and the National Orange Show letters and documents
•H.Mss.0524 William McPherson Papers
Honnold/Mudd Library Special Collections holds the following related periodicals:
California Citrograph. Los Angeles, Calif.: California Citrograph Pub. Co.
Citrograph (Redlands, Calif.). Redlands (Lugonia P.O.), Calif.: S. Craig.
The following monograph items can be found in the Claremont Colleges online catalog using the keyword search term "Oglesby
Citrus Label Collection":
Barker, Richard H.
Citrus roots, our legacy: citriculture to citrus culture. [Upland, CA]: Upland Community Foundation, 2004.
California Citrus Institute.
First annual report of the California Citrus Institute: for the Season 1919-1920. Riverside, Calif.: The Institute, 1920.
Faye, Tom; Collings, Adam Randolph Collings.
California Dreaming, the golden age of label art. Anaheim, Calif.: A.R. Collings, 1993.
Jacobsen, Pat.
Pat Jacobsen's collector's guide to fruit crate labels : 1994-97. Weimar, Calif.: Patco Enterprises, 1997.
Jacobsen, Pat.
Pat Jacobsen's millennium guide to fruit crate labels: a price guide and collector's reference. Weimar, Calif.: Crate Expectations Publishing, 1999.
MacCurdy, Rahno Mabel; Lockabey, V. A.; Barker, Richard H.
Citrus roots -- our legacy: selling the gold; history of Sunkist and Pure Gold. [Upland, Calif.]: Printed by Upland Public Library Foundation, 1999.
McClelland, Gordon T.; Last, Jay T.
Fruit box labels: a collector’s guide. Beverly Hills: Hillcrest Press, 1983.
McClelland, Gordon T.; Last, Jay T.
Fruit box labels: an illustrated price guide to citrus labels. Santa Ana, Calif.: Hillcrest Press, 1995.
Merlo, Catherine.
Heritage of gold: the first 100 years of Sunkist Growers, Inc., 1893-1993. [Los Angeles, Calif.]: [Sunkist Growers, Inc.], 1990s.
Sunkist Growers, Inc.
Brands of oranges and lemons controlled by the Southern California Fruit Exchange: February 1901. [Los Angeles]: [Times-Mirror Printing and Binding House], 1901.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.
Clark, Ted, 1903-1990 -- Pictorial works
Derby, J. (John) Frank, 1875-1943 -- Pictorial works
Carton Label Corp.
Citrus crate labels--California
Citrus fruit industry
Citrus fruits in art
Citrus fruits--Marketing
Citrus fruits--Transportation
Fruit crate labels
Los Angeles Lithographic Co.
San Antonio Fruit Exchange
Schmidt Litho. Co.
Sunkist Growers, inc.
Western Litho. Co. (-1907)
Western Litho. Co. (1908-)
Citrus crate labels
Labels