Light Industry Archives | Applebox Belles: The Women of Lake Country’s Packinghouses

Before the strike – Applebox belles at the loading dock, 1940s

Vernon Fruit Union, Oyama.

Winfield packinghouse, 1930s

The railway line ran in front of the Winfield packinghouse.

Inez Kenney with three other belles at the Oyama packinghouse

Applebox belles at the Vernon Fruit Union packinghouse, Oyama, 1937. Inez is the second woman from the right.

Effie Smith, Alice Draper, Winnie Draper, Mary Draper, Winfield 1937

Applebox belles on their day off.

Okanagan Centre, 1930s

Gleed’s Store in Okanagan Centre during the Depression.

Ikue Kobayashi, 1956

Ikue Kobayashi was just nineteen years old when she moved to Okanagan Centre with her new husband. For the first few years, Ikue worked for the Okanagan Valley […]

Big Chief brand apple box label

The Okanagan Valley Land Company packed ‘C’ grade apples under the Big Chief label.

Nora Carter, 1936

Nora Carter at the Okanagan Centre packinghouse, age fourteen.

Inez Patterson Kenney

Inez Patterson Kenney Photo montage. Narrated by Bill Kenney, December 12th, 2015 Inez Patterson was born in 1917 in Manitoba. After moving first to Burnaby, BC, her family […]

Handipak boxes

The cardboard Handipak boxes changed the role of the packers and eliminated the work of the box makers.

Winfield packinghouse

The staff of the Vernon Fruit Union, Winfield, October 20th, 1955.

Nora, Yoshi, and Kate, 1948

Nora Carter, Yoshi Kobayashi, and Kate at the Okanagan Valley Land Company camp, 1948.