COLLECTION #181: Vintage Fruit Crate Labels

It's pretty hard to be a Californian and not either collect, or love vintage fruit crate labels. These lovely works of art were commonly used on produce of all kinds, and certainly not just California produce!  But in California it's easy to find these vintage prints in just about every antique mall and flea market.
 I have a small collection, which I love! I seem to have 2 themes that I prefer: western, and scenery.

Most of the collectible labels were produced from the late 1800s to around the 1960s. Generally, these labels are fairly common, and can be purchased for under $20. But there are highly desirable labels that can sell for many times that amount. For me, I collect the labels I can afford, and that I like. Simple as that!

I've thrown in here a few 'blanks'. I found these labels at a lovely antique store in Carpinteria called Whimsy Antiques . I blogged about them a few months ago on my other blog,  you can read about it here.
The fun thing about blanks, is that you can digitally alter them to add your own fun detais: name, title, dates, etc. Here's an example of how I took a kinda bland blank, and zipped it up with some color changes and personalization. Eventually, when I stop being so lazy, I will have it printed, and framed for our kitchen.

If you would like a full-resolution image of any of these labels, please send me an email, and I'll be happy to send it to you. (You can find my email address on the right side of this blog).