The Ultimate Fruit Label Book (Schiffer Books) [Hardcover]

John A. Baule (Author), Delmar Bice (Compiler), Cora B. Marcus (Producer)

Book Description

Series: Schiffer Books | Publication Date: July 2007

From the late 1800s to the early 1960s, millions of bright and colorful, attention-getting paper labels were used by fruit growers to identify and advertise boxes of fresh produce. Today these true works of art are avidly sought by designers, collectors, and decorators. Over 1700 stunning color images of fruit labels are presented here alphabetically: stock and private labels from growers and associations ranging from Acme and All American to Yakima Valley and Zirkle. Many decorative motifs, including fruit still-lifes, anthropomorphized fruit, scenic vistas, and elaborate portraitures, are featured. Today they are clearly incorporated into interior design. The text includes histories of major fruit companies and the rise of fruit labels, useful collecting hints, values information and codes with every caption, and a detailed bibliography. This book is a must for anyone with a passion for beautiful graphic design.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Publishing; 1 edition (July 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076432442X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764324420
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 11.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing in Several Respects, April 29, 2007

By 

Tome Raider (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Fruit Label Book (Schiffer Books) (Hardcover)

I went through a phase where I collected fruit box labels. I enjoyed the imagery and the sense of nostalgia. These labels harken back to a simpler, more rural and natural time. You can just feel yourself relaxing as your eyes gaze over the images from our largely bygone agricultural America. I've since moved on to collecting rock concert posters, but it was from fruit box labels that I learned my love for beautiful, idyllic imagery. This book will have you immediately yearning for eating a juicy apple in a grassy, flower-saturated meadow alongside a frolicking maiden, so stock up on those. The apples, that is.

As someone else has mentioned, this book is primarily about produce from Washington state. I'd say it is about 90% dedicated to apples, and there are some pears as well. There are about six pictures per page, so they are small images, but they are still large enough that you can enjoy the image and feeling. I do wish there were a few full-page images, just to shake things up visually a little. This almost feels like a catalog in certain respects. And, there is actually quite a bit of image redundancy, due to the fact that the same image was used on several labels with minor derivations in peripheral details. For a collector this might be extremely valuable so you can identify diffferent versions of a given label image.

You definitely don't have any citrus portrayed here, and I don't think there is anything from California or Florida. So "Ultimate" is clearly hyperbole. The book is lacking in a type of dimension I had hoped it would have. This is basically a book with a lot of beautiful pictures of apples. To me, that's still a good thing, as far as it goes.

The print quality here is first rate, just splendid. Paper quality is first rate.

So far, I'd still give the book five stars. My gripe?? The absolutely cheap and disgraceful shiny cardboard cover they put on the book. This is the kind of cover which you find on a child's Dr. Suess book, not a label collector's book which itself should become a collectible. Really, such a major mistake: someone's head should roll at Schiffer Publishing. And, look at the price: for this price you should get a book which will last for generations. Instead, they sell you a book which almost certainly will be in tatters in a few years if it get any regular use at all. Given the low quality cover and binding, this book should be priced at about one-third its current asking price.

The art of bookbinding and book-making seems to be going the way of the American automobile. This book represents the Ford Pinto-fication of the American book publishing industry. Huge, horrible corners cut, with some scheming conniver just hoping we won't notice the down-grading of quality. You will. At this price, I suspect you wouldn't buy this book if you were to see it at a bookstore. The compromise in cover quality is grossly conspicuous.

I think of books as investments. I'm willing to pay more for quality, and I think of it as a nice, simple heirloom for my children, from which they may learn to share some of my interests. But here, you get a cheaply manufactured product, where some concession was made which ruined the whole, wonderful concept that someone (the author,namely) probably poured years into developing. Regardless, for this price, I want a first-rate book. And, quite frankly, I don't want any cheaply made books in my personal library. Books should be--and always have been, until recently--objects of art. Cheaps bindings destroy that concept.

I'm a huge fan of Amazon, but I'm recommending to them that they have binding designations to indicate "cloth" so we can distinguish the hardbacks between quality and junk. This book begs for a cloth binding, and I'm saddened that it--and we--did not get that.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but misleading title., January 15, 2007

By 

Richard (Venice, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Fruit Label Book (Schiffer Books) (Hardcover)

This book should have an expanded title: "...from Washington's Yakima Valley". Shoppers beware! There are no citrus fruit labels displayed within the book. It seems odd that the title would claim to be the "ultimate" without including citrus fruit, hence the need for a different title. Othwerwise, the book is a treasure of wonderful works of art beautifully displayed with lots of historic information.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gorgeous representation of fruit labels from the late 1800s to the early 1960s, July 7, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Fruit Label Book (Schiffer Books) (Hardcover)

John A. Baule's The Ultimate Fruit Label Book is a gorgeous representation of fruit labels from the late 1800s to the early 1960s: the heyday of millions of bright, colorful paper labels used by fruit growers to catch the eye and advertise their produce. This isn't just a value guide, though: over 1,700 color images are listed alphabetically and including stock and private labels from grows and associations alike, along with histories of major fruit companies and collecting hints. The result is a gorgeous presentation and a 'must' for any with more than a casual interest in fruit labels.