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Category: Agricultural

Winfield packinghouse

Winfield packinghouse

The staff of the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, October 20th, 1955.
Applebox Belles at the Woodsdale packinghouse, 1940s

Applebox Belles at the Woodsdale packinghouse, 1940s

“We really got on with each other, even though there were so many different characters. There were so many memories.” Winnie Heyworth, 2012
Lake Country’s packinghouses, from 1913 to present

Lake Country’s packinghouses, from 1913 to present

By 1911 there were almost 1,000,000 apple trees in the Okanagan. Packinghouses opened throughout the valley, and over the next fifty years at least twenty packinghouses operated in […]
Seaton packinghouse

Seaton packinghouse

Jack Seaton opened his first packinghouse in 1919. It was located near his orchard on Camp Road.
The packinghouse crew of the Vernon Fruit Union, Oyama, 1920s

The packinghouse crew of the Vernon Fruit Union, Oyama, 1920s

The Vernon Fruit Union operated a packinghouse in Oyama from 1913 to 1974.
Vernon Fruit Union, Oyama, 1940

Vernon Fruit Union, Oyama, 1940

At the packinghouse fruit was sized and graded and apples considered not suitable for market due to bruises, blemishes, or poor colour were culled. In the early years, […]
Packinghouse crew at Okanagan Centre, October, 1928

Packinghouse crew at Okanagan Centre, October, 1928

Left to right: Unknown, Malcolm Douglas, unknown, unknown, Ivy Fallow, J. W. Cole, Charlie Draper, unknown, Cliff Fallow, Alice Crowder, Sadie Rutt, Mrs. Rutt  
Vernon Fruit Union packinghouse, Oyama, 1931

Vernon Fruit Union packinghouse, Oyama, 1931

The first attempt to unionize packinghouse workers took place in the 1930s but was unsuccessful due to the surplus of available workers.
The packing line at the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, early 1940s

The packing line at the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, early 1940s

As each packer completed her pack she stamped her number on the end of the box. This formed the basis for payment.
The sorting line at the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, early 1940s

The sorting line at the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, early 1940s

The belles normally worked ten hours a day. Sorters were paid by the hour, earning less than $15 per week.
Women at work in the Woodsdale packinghouse, 1944

Women at work in the Woodsdale packinghouse, 1944

Grandmothers Helping to Pack Fruit Crop Grandmothers, schoolgirls and housewives have joined forces at Kelowna to play a big role in this year’s bumper apple crop. Clad in […]
Okanagan Centre packinghouse, 1950

Okanagan Centre packinghouse, 1950

The Okanagan Centre packinghouse extended on pilings over Okanagan Lake, where apples were loaded directly onto barges.