Work Archives | Page 4 of 5 | Applebox Belles: The Women of Lake Country’s Packinghouses

Packing in the orchard

Robert Allison packing apples in his orchard in Oyama, 1925.

Apple boxes

The size of the standard apple box was 10 x 11 x 20 inches, inside measurement. When fully packed it contained 40 pounds of apples for a total […]

Okanagan Centre, 1948

Main Street, Okanagan Centre, 1948. The packinghouse had an overhead conveyor which transported the boxed apples from the packinghouse to the storage facility across the road.

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.

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.

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.