Evolution of Label Designs

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

The seventy-year epoch of citrus labels, from the 1880s to mid 1950s, reflects both history and commercial art evolution.

The Fillmore Citrus Fruit Association Airship Brand label is an example of a design that retained its basic image, but was continually updated as aeronautical engineering technology evolved.

The series of five Airship Brand labels shown here starts in the early 1900s and ends in the 1940s.

Note the affiliation to Sunkist Growers starting with the Sunkist sunburst logo that was first used in 1908 (Figure 2).

The wrapped fruit logo that replaced the unwrapped fruit (not illustrated) image in the 1920s is shown in figures 3, 4, and 5.

It is noteworthy that earliest label, Figure 1, recently sold for $2,850 at auction.