General Archives | Page 5 of 6 | Applebox Belles: The Women of Lake Country’s Packinghouses

Modern Methods of Packing Apples and Pears, 1913

Modern Methods of Packing Apples and Pears, by A. McNeill, Chief, Fruit Division. Published by Direction of the Hon. Martin Rurrell, Minister of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont., June 1913.

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.

Packing School Certificate

Certificate issued to M. Cochrane at the Vernon packing school, August 5, 1918.

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.

The floating picket line

The floating picket line of Okanagan Centre packinghouse workers, 1955.

Bluebird brand apple box label

The Bluebird brand was packed at the Seaton packinghouse in Winfield.

Winoka Cooperative Exchange packing box end and box stamp

The Okanagan Centre packinghouse was operated by the Winoka Cooperative Exchange from 1948 to the early 1960s.

Apple Packing Championships, 1952

The fourth annual apple packing competition for the Canadian championship was held at Oliver, BC, November 3rd, 1952. Mrs. Anne Peterman of Oliver won the 1952 competition, with […]

Duck Lake Fruit Ranch, 1911

The Duck Lake Fruit Ranch planted one of the first orchards in Winfield. The early apple varieties were Spitsenburg, crab-apple, Macintosh, and Jonathan.

Kelowna Farmer’s Exchange packing school, 1914

The first packing school available to local women ran a class in the winter of 1914 at the Kelowna Grower’s Exchange packinghouse. Packing schools operated in the Okanagan […]

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

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