There is a strong case to be made that California’s identity, the “dream of California,” was built on the orange. The citrus industry’s boom days created more than fields of oranges and lemons; its various marketing campaigns sought not only to sell their products but to project an image of California as a paradise, a pleasant land with a mild climate that could not help but burst with fresh fruit. Of course, the reality was that California did not naturally produce these “Gardens of the Hesperides,” or even make it particularly easy for aspiring orchardists to develop them. Successful citrus farming resulted from precise management, imported water, precautions against the weather, and the hard work of laborers in the orchards and packing houses. The “dream” was as constructed as the orchards themselves.

Citrus cultivation was first brought to Baja California in 1793 by the Spanish Jesuit missionaries, and in 1796 was carried north by Franciscan friars as they established missions throughout California. Citrus was frequently grown at the missions, including a large grove of 400 trees at Mission San Gabriel. It was from this mission that William Wolfskill, a U.S. native and naturalized Mexican citizen, borrowed seedlings in order to begin his own grove, the first commercial scale orchard in the state, in 1840. At the time of his death in 1866, Wolfskill’s property boasted 60,000 grape vines and over 4,000 orange and lemon trees. More growers quickly followed, and California became a major producer of the nation’s oranges.

This collection was developed by David Boulé, a third generation Californian, enthusiastic collector, researcher, archivist, and author. His vast and varied collection started small with the purchase of two postcards depicting the idealized fields of oranges that were so typical of the California dream’s image. Since then, his collection grew to include historic photographs, hundreds of postcards, rare advertising and marketing materials, books, phonograph records, posters, journals and personal papers, newspapers and press clippings, and many California orange-themed souvenirs and promotional items. He has lectured on the impact of California’s King Citrus, and his book, The Orange and Dream of California, was published in 2014 by Angel City Press and was first catalogued in WorldCat by Honnold/Mudd Special Collections. In its mission statement, Boulé describes this collection as “explor[ing] the California citrus empire, how it shaped the state’s image and culture, and how the orange became a symbol for California’s historic promise – as a place of beauty, abundance, and potential. In addition to materials that portray an idealized vision of California and King Citrus, the collection includes items that illuminate the significant labor, enterprise and economic aspects of the California citrus industry.”

This “significant labor” was sometimes officially depicted in an idealized sense, but a large proportion of the laborers involved were ignored in the construction of the “California dream.” People of color made up most of the industry’s workforce, yet were largely hidden from view. The Boulé collection includes rare images of the Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican workers, both men and women, who provided the majority of the labor that was so crucial for the success of large-scale citrus production in California. Other items of note include industry artifacts such as an intact wooden Sunkist packing crate, early electric juicers, and a smudge pot. Mr. Boulé generously donated the entirety of his collection to Special Collections at The Claremont Colleges Library in 2017, where it is a keystone collection and has already been featured in several exhibits.

Sources:

Boule, David. The Orange and the Dream of California. Santa Monica: Angel City Press, 2013.

Reccow, Louis. The Orange County Citrus Strikes of 1935-1936: The “Forgotten People” in Revolt. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1981, © 1971.

Thompson and West. History of Los Angeles County California, with Illustrations. Berkeley: Howell-North, 1959.

Wilson, Iris Higbie. William Wolfskill 1798-1866: Frontier Trapper to California Ranchero. Glendale: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1965.