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Box of oranges greeting from California, 1954

Subjects
Agriculture & FarmsGeneral Greetings
Card type
Linen
Date
c. 1954 (Chrome)
Front of Box of oranges greeting from California, 1954, Miss Elaine Steele, WI, USA, c. 1954 linen postcard
Front
Back of Box of oranges greeting from California, 1954, Miss Elaine Steele, WI, USA, c. 1954 linen postcard
Back

About this postcard

A wooden crate overflows with California oranges and orange blossoms beneath the printed lines "GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA" and "THE BOX of ORANGES I Promised YOU from CALIFORNIA." The card presents the fruit as a souvenir of the state, with printed text praising California's orange industry and the seedless Navel orange. The sender, writing to Sis and family in Wisconsin, wished the oranges could be real after seeing trees full of them. The image draws on California's long association with citrus, where oranges were grown, packed, and shipped east, and where fruit-crate labels and souvenir cards made the crop a familiar state symbol.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

Tues. eve. Dear Sis, Bev, Billy, Woody, How are you all? Wish these could be real ones. Saw Trees and Trees full of them. Hope to see you real soon. Love Caroline & Norton

PublisherLongshaw Card Co.
844 GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA THE BOX of ORANGES I Promised YOU from CALIFORNIA. --- California's famous orange industry produced forty-six million boxes of this golden fruit last year. The large Navel orange (seedless) is a native of California, and prized the world over for its fine flavor. MANUFACTURED BY LONGSHAW CARD CO., LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
PostmarkedNorth Hollywood, CA, April 7, 1954, 11:30
Stamp
Addressed to
Miss Elaine Steele

217 Walnut St. Oconomowoc, WI

Postcard record

Postmarked, North Hollywood, CA
PublisherLongshaw Card Co.
Series844
ConditionGood
Place addressedMiss Elaine Steele, 217 Walnut St., Oconomowoc, WI
Place mentionedCalifornia, CA
PublisherLongshaw Card Co., Los Angeles, CA
Stamp2c John Adams, red, perforated on all sides
Stamp2c John Adams, issued 1938
NotesLinen texture; orange border; card number 844 at upper left; left edge shows binding/perforation marks. Greeting lettering ("GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA" / "THE BOX of ORANGES I Promised YOU from CALIFORNIA.") appears on the pictured orange crate; printed descriptive paragraph on back. Postmark: NORTH HOLLYWOOD APR 7 11 30 AM 1954 CALIF. Divided-back linen-era card with 2¢ John Adams stamp; light edge/corner wear, faint crease lower right.

Cite this card

Box of oranges greeting from California, 1954, postcard, c. 1954. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/box-of-oranges-greeting-from-california-1954. Accessed November 2, 2026.