They are everywhere.
Apples, bananas, avocados, pears, mangoes, lemons, tomatoes and oranges all carry the little labels most of us peel off without a second thought.
Today, more than 1,500 standardized PLU codes are assigned to fresh produce and related items around the world. Brands such as Cuties have even made the individual fruit sticker part of the visual identity of the product.
But the idea of attaching a small paper label directly to fresh produce began much earlier.
A Redlands Orange Grower Had an Idea
In 1908, Redlands citrus grower and inventor William N. Moore filed a U.S. patent for an apparatus specifically designed to apply adhesive to citrus fruit so that a small paper label could be attached directly to the orange.
Moore came to California from the manufacturing world of Joliet, Illinois, and became associated with Redlands' Elephant Orchards packing operation. He was working in a city that, by the early twentieth century, had more than 30 citrus packing houses shipping over a million boxes of fruit to distant markets.
Before direct fruit labels, citrus brands often traveled on shipping crates or individual tissue wrappers. Moore's deceptively simple innovation moved the brand directly onto the fruit.
It was an idea that would eventually become familiar throughout the global produce aisle.
From Historic Citrus Labels to Old California Botanicals
That history still influences us at Old California Botanicals.
Some of the graphic labeling on our beeswax lip balm packaging deliberately pays homage to the old tradition of branding individual pieces of California produce. More than a century after Redlands growers were finding new ways to send their fruit and their names around the country, we are still finding ways to carry the story of California citrus beyond the grove.
There is much more to William N. Moore's story: giant Elephant Orchards oranges that made the newspapers, an extraordinary career in American manufacturing, his 1908 patent, and a family story that eventually reached another iconic California industry—Spanish-style architectural tile.
We've published the complete story, including the original patent research, on our Substack.
Continue reading: The Little Sticker That Changed the Produce Aisle →
From the Grove to the Jar
The innovation began because Redlands growers wanted distant customers to recognize exceptional California oranges. Old California Botanicals continues that tradition today with products rooted in the same historic citrus-growing region.
