Crate Label, Carnation Brand, California Fruits Tri-Boro Fruit Co, Vintage 1960's

Before supermarkets. Before plastic wrap. Before everything was the same everywhere — there were crate labels.

This is an original California grape crate label — a lithograph produced between 1963 and 1966 by Stecher-Traung Lithographic Co. of San Francisco, for Tri-Boro Fruit Co. It has never been used. Never folded. Never attached to a crate. It is New Old Stock in excellent condition, found in the original unused factory stock.

The label is a delight. Four carnations in different colors — the full range of the flower's palette — are arranged across a warm mustard yellow ground, framed in bright blue. Carnations were the quintessential mid-century florist flower, and this label captures them at their most exuberant. Stecher-Traung, who printed this label, were among the finest lithographers of the era; the color saturation and registration are as precise now as the day they came off the press.

Strip labels like this one are perfect for grouping. Line them up in matching slim frames on a kitchen shelf, a butler's pantry, a powder room — anywhere you want color and pattern in a small footprint. The four-carnation arrangement means the eye moves across the whole label and finds something different each time. A single label in a narrow 5x14 frame is beautiful on its own. Two available.

A wonderful gift for a carnation lover, a vintage floral decor collector, a Stecher-Traung lithography enthusiast, or anyone who loves saturated mid-century color on their walls.

A note on crate label collecting: Original lithographic crate labels from this era are increasingly scarce. NOS examples like this one — never used, never folded, in original unused condition — represent the best of what survives. Collectors prize them for their graphic quality and the window they open onto a vanished chapter of American agricultural and commercial history.

• Brand: Carnation Brand / Tri-Boro Fruit Co., Inc., California
• Lithographer: Stecher-Traung Lithographic Co. (1933–1966), San Francisco
• Type: Grape crate label (strip)
• Made in: USA
• Dated: 1963–1966
• Dimensions: 13.0" wide | 4.0" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent condition. Age-appropriate yellowing on the reverse only. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Ideal for a narrow or panoramic frame — ready to display. Groups beautifully with other strip labels.