Grape Basket Label, Lake Keuka Concords
notes: label: Description
content: Horticulturalist Ephraim Wales Bull developed Concord grapes in 1849, through experiments with wild, native grapes (Vitis labrusca). The grape’s name derives from the location of Bull’s research--Concord, Massachusetts. Concords flourished in the Finger Lakes region of New York State and by the 1870s there was a vigorous trade in shipping ripe Concords to buyers around the country. Used as table grapes as well as for making jelly and Kosher wine, Concord production increased significantly in the late 19th century. Their most famous application was in the making of non-fermented grape juice, a process introduced by Dr. Thomas Welch, of New Jersey, in 1869.
label: Description
content: This colorful printed label was for “Gold Star Brand” Concords, a brand shipped by Samuel McMath & Co., out of Penn Yan, a village nestled on the north end of the east branch of Keuka Lake, one of New York’s Finger Lakes. Established in 1875, McMath’s company was one of several that shipped wooden baskets of grapes by rail to commercial processors and retail businesses. Labels like this would have been pasted on the lids of the “pony” baskets, 1250 of which could fit in a single rail car. McMath died in 1918 and his son John continued buying and shipping grapes out of Penn Yan until 1932.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Food Technology
label: See more items in
content: Food
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0211.02
label: accession number
content: 2014.0211
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0211.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: crate label
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: multicolor (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 3/4 in x 10 7/16 in; 12.065 cm x 26.51125 cm