Crate Label, Homer Sunkist Brand Oranges, Original Lithograph, 1940's NOS, Vintage

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

This is an original California citrus crate label — a 1940s lithograph from the factory stock of the Orange Heights Orange Association, Corona, California, Sunkist. It has never been used. Never folded. Never attached to a crate. It is New Old Stock in excellent mint condition.

The label is bold and alive. A homing pigeon in full flight cuts across a deep blue and black ground, mountains fading behind it. The bird is rendered with precision — wings at full extension, every feather articulated, the racing pigeon's compact power captured in mid-stroke. Homer was the name these growers chose deliberately: the homing pigeon, famous for its unerring navigation and its willingness to fly hundreds of miles back to where it belongs. A name about reliability, instinct, and the pull of home. There is something quietly moving about that.

Frame it as bird art, as mid-century graphic design, or as a California citrus piece with an unusual subject. At 11.0 by 10.0 inches it is a large label — it fills a frame and fills a wall. The dark ground and the bird in motion give it an energy that works in almost any interior. One available.

A wonderful gift for a pigeon fancier, a bird art collector, a Sunkist enthusiast, a vintage label collector, or anyone drawn to the unexpected beauty of mid-century California commercial lithography.

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: Homer Brand / Orange Heights Orange Association, Corona, California — Sunkist
• Type: Citrus crate label
• Made in: USA
• Dated: circa 1940s
• Dimensions: 11.0" wide | 10.0" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing consistent with period. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Fits a standard 11x14 or 12x12 frame — ready to display