Crate Label, Tesoro Rancho Sunkist Oranges, Original Lithograph, 1930's, NOS, Vintage

Before supermarkets. Before plastic wrap. Before everything was the same everywhere — there were crate labels.

This is an original California citrus crate label — a 1930s lithograph printed by Western Litho Company for Bradford Bros. Inc. of Placentia, Orange County, California — Sunkist Valencia Oranges. It has never been used. Never folded. Never attached to a crate. It is New Old Stock in excellent mint condition.

The label is gorgeous. A Spanish Colonial hacienda sits in the center of the composition, low and white, surrounded by palm trees. Behind it, orange groves stretch toward the foothills, and beyond those, mountains dissolve into a warm sky. The scene is California as it was imagined and as it actually was in the 1930s — romantic, agricultural, deeply particular to a place and a moment. Tesoro Rancho: the treasure ranch. The name fits the label completely.

This is a scarce label, rarely found, and especially rare in this condition. Frame it as California history, as architectural landscape art, or as a piece of the golden age of American citrus industry design. At 11.0 by 10.0 inches it commands a wall — equally at home in a living room, a kitchen, a home office, or a sunroom. It suits warm, earthy interiors and Mediterranean-influenced spaces especially well. Two available.

A wonderful gift for a California history enthusiast, a lover of Spanish Colonial architecture, a Sunkist or citrus label collector, or anyone who wants an original piece of 1930s California on their wall.

A note on crate label collecting: Original lithographic crate labels from this era are increasingly scarce. NOS examples like this one — never used, never folded, in original unused condition — represent the best of what survives. Collectors prize them for their graphic quality and the window they open onto a vanished chapter of American agricultural and commercial history.

• Brand: Tesoro Rancho / Bradford Bros. Inc., Placentia, Orange County, California — Sunkist
• Lithographer: Western Litho Company
• Type: Citrus crate label
• Made in: USA
• Dated: circa 1930s
• Dimensions: 11.0" wide | 10.0" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing consistent with period. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Fits a standard 11x14 or 12x12 frame — ready to display