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Home Business Oddity - Fruit Crate Labels

With a little passion, just about anything can turn into a home business. I have started many home businesses over the years, but this one is the most strange. It is "The World's Strangest Home Business." One thing just led to another and before we knew it, it's was a business. I had a natural curiosity for the business that drove it on.

This business all began when we wanted some apple boxes for storing newspaper and kindling by the wood stove. I wanted some of those old boxes that had colorful labels still on them, but it had been a while since I'd seen any. Each Thursday a new Giant Nickel Want Ads would come out, and I'd hunt through the antique and collectibles section but to no avail. Much time was also spent in the local antique stores trying to find some of them. I did this for months, until one day an ad appeared for apple boxes with labels! I knew from experience that apple and pear boxes with labels did not grow on trees. It was a short drive out to the small town of Burbank WA, and a nice, chubby, Santa Clause-like man met me at the door. His name was Jerry. He sold me 7 boxes, and they were all very beautiful. A few months later, the urge to see Jerry came back, and soon I purchased a bunch of labels from him. He was really a nice guy, with a large collection of labels.

Colorful fruit crate labels were made between 1900 and 1956, when cardboard was introduced. Because of cardboard the wooden box and it's paper label were obsolete within a year. The only labels that survived unused, in mint condition, were those that were saved through the diligence of farm families, packagers, shippers, crazy collectors, and museums. Washington State may have had as many as 6,000 different labels during the past century, but only about 100 are easily available, and 1000 is a very good (and costly) collection. A local museum was raising money for a building expansion and was selling a large collection of this colorful Americana - apple and pear labels. So, a heavy investment was made into the museum's building expansion fund by yours truly.

Collectors and dealers came out of the woodwork by phone, online, and I began receiving annual invitations in the mail to the 'label shows.' Incredibly, there were whole shows dedicated to labels, where people bought, sold, and traded them. Soon my web site had almost 20,000 visitors and I knew most of the fruit crate label dealers across the U.S. What an interesting bunch of folks - lawyers, farmers, railroad men, shuysters, engineers, and little old ladies were all there. Rare labels were fetching $100, $200, and sometimes $500 each! These labels are only sheets of old paper about 9" x 10" in size, but are very old and are almost like limited edition art prints. They did have a magical way of taking you back in time, to older, simpler times with themes involving children, flowers, farms, hunting, fishing, animals, and other topics. Fruit growers pinned their hopes on these colorful themes, hoping buyers would remember their brand at auction.

I memorized prices and images for thousands of labels, and it wasn't long before this old eye could spot an unknown or rare label. One day there was an urge deep within me to go check out the pawn shops too. So, I got up and went to the Cable Bridge Pawn shop and asked the lady if she had any labels. She did….and brought out some beautiful rare citrus labels that I'd never seen before. My heart was racing as I bought them all for $1 each. The next week I put one "Forty-Nine Brand" label on eBay for $49. During the week it worked it's way up slowly, reaching $179 a few hours before close. But, my wife and I had our usual Friday night date night planned, and so we went out to eat. I was preoccupied, however, wondering what would happen to "Forty-Nine Brand," a California gold mining theme label with a muscular man in a red shirt, white flowing hair, stick in hand, a pack mule, and beautiful snow-covered Sierra mountains in the background. When we got back from our date, the auction had closed and I went right to eBay. I could not believe my eyes. The label had been bid up to $789! We were shocked! Collectors from California were calling - asking all about the label which has set a new record for a label, and caused a stir in the label circles.

This microbusiness continues to astound me as it grows. The buying, selling, and trading goes on. My personal suggestion for starting a home business is to know yourself and what makes you tick. Some questions I ask myself: What am I good at? What stokes my passion? Is it enough to make me want to know all you can about it, day in and day out? This business grew solely out of passion for the beauty of the labels, and historical interest in old eastern Washington apple farms.

About Rich Kimura:

Rich Kimura is a freelance writer, married father of 4, chemical engineer, and entrepreneur. He has authored numerous technical papers, has 1 patent and 2 patents-pending, and 24 years experience in the nuclear and chemical industries. Rich started 6 micro-businesses, received financial counseling training by Crown Financial, and teaches on both subjects. To see more free tips and sharing of personal experiences in home businesses, work, money, finances, relationships, spirituality, and other topics, visit Cirrovista at http://www.Cirrovista.com and if you want to see this strange label business site, go to http://www.cirrovista.com/labelplace.html

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