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Picking oranges in an orchard, southern Florida, circa 1907

Subjects
African American HistoryAgriculture & FarmsWorkers & Occupations
Card type
Lithograph
Date
c. 1930 (White Border)
Front of Picking oranges in an orchard, southern Florida, circa 1907, c. 1930 lithograph postcard
Front
Back of Picking oranges in an orchard, southern Florida, circa 1907, c. 1930 lithograph postcard
Back

About this postcard

Two pickers on tall wooden ladders work among heavily fruited orange trees, with filled crates stacked on the sandy ground between the rows. The card's own caption names the scene as orange picking in southern Florida, part of the state's booming citrus industry of the early 1900s, when groves and packing houses spread across the central and southern peninsula. The laborers shown are African American, a common sight in Florida citrus work of the period.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

Fort De Soto, Fla - Dec 19 07 A Merry Merry Christmas & Happy New Year - from Mollie Burns

PublisherRaphael Tuck & Sons
IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA. Picking Oranges. --- Raphael Tuck & Sons' Post Card Series No 2466, "In Southern Florida." ART PUBLISHERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN. POST CARD. THE ADDRESS TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE. PICKING ORANGES. The orange trees are grown with very short trunks, so that when ready for harvest, the individual fruit is cut off with scissors (not pulled from the stem), the men using step-ladders in the spaces between the trees. After being picked, the oranges are allowed to stand for a few days to dry and soften somewhat before being graded and boxed for shipment. Printed in Germany.
PostmarkedWestbury, NY, December 30, 1907, 07:00
Stamp
Addressed to
Charlotte Hassett

Amesbury, MA

Postcard record

Postmarked, Westbury, NY
PublisherRaphael Tuck & Sons
ConditionGood
Place addressedCharlotte Hassett, Amesbury, MA
Place depictedFlorida, FL
Place mentionedFort Reposo, FL
Place mentionedSouthern Florida, FL
PublisherRaphael Tuck & Sons, London
Stamp1c Benjamin Franklin, green, issued 1930
NotesWhite border; undivided-back era card with a handwritten message across the lower front; small publisher's device at lower left, illegible. Postmark: WESTBURY N.Y. DEC 30 7-AM 1907. Undivided back ("THE ADDRESS TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE"); Raphael Tuck & Sons' Post Card Series No. 2466, printed in Germany; white border on front; light edge/corner wear and slight toning.

Cite this card

Picking oranges in an orchard, southern Florida, circa 1907, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/picking-oranges-in-an-orchard-southern-florida-circa-1907. Accessed October 24, 2026.