My mother bent down and lifted me up off the kitchen floor. She was home and she smelled like lemons.
Since I was around 7 months old, I would spend my weekdays at my grandmother’s house (# 129). My mother, Carmen, would rise early enough to get my two older brothers and me ready to go next door to grandma’s house and still get to work by 7:30 a.m.
Like many women who lived in Rancho Sespe, Mom worked at the Sunkist Lemon Packing House. She would spend her day standing beside a conveyor belt as thousands of aromatic lemons bobbled along beside her.
This photograph was taken in 1953, the year I was born. My 30 year old mother is the second woman from the left. All the women on this line were responsible for grading the lemons after they had been washed. I noticed that Mom’s cart and another behind hers were turned at an angle that displays the “Gold Stripe” label. This, along with the "Sunday best" outfits the women were wearing instead of "work clothes," makes me think they had advance notice about the promotional photography that would take place that day.
The “Gold Stripe” was only used for top grade fruit. Its design was conceived by Eudora Hull Spaulding whose father deeded her the land in 1895. If you're questioning the presence of a rooster on a citrus and cattle ranch label, here's the story.
During a visit to Chicago, she was so taken by a local hotel’s coat of arms bearing a white rooster that she decided to have one put onto her Rancho Sespe label. (Source: “100 Year History of Rancho Sespe 1888 to 1988,” Kenneth K. Glenn) In addition to the gold stripe, my research also revealed that there was a silver, blue, green, orange and red version. Each stood for a different grade of fruit.
I worked at the orchards of Ranco Sespe in 1970 or 1971. First driving a tractor then as a shop mechanic. I lived in one of the small houses in the orchard for $10 per month. I can't find info about these houses (or photos) or any history from that time period. A small girl used to hear my hot rod accelerate out on the main highway and when I drove back into the housing area (slowly in that area) she would yell "speed racer" because she knew it had been my car. (I had a 1966 SS396 Chevelle with the 375 hp option.) Once, I saw a tree-ripened navel orange that the pickers had previously missed, so I stopped and ate it. Sweetest and juiciest navel ever! I'm 76 now and the job I had at Rancho Sespe is a nice memory. Just wished there was some info out there about the $10 per month houses!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to share your memories.
ReplyDeleteAs I’ve gotten older (I’m 72), I’ve notice how natural it is to have memories come up. It’s a sweet way to take stock of a life well lived.
THE HOUSES
I don’t have a source that I can refer you to that would give you more information about the housing found in Rancho Sespe during your time there.
My extended family moved to the Ranch in the 1930s. My grandfather, Pablo Ramirez, was a carpenter who helped to build and maintain the houses and outbuildings. Beginning in the 60s, my father, Alex Davis, was a fruit-picking crew foreman. Those two factors may have contributed to the setting of our rent for a three-bedroom house -- $1/month.
We have family photos that include both outdoor and indoor parts of our homes in the background.
THE SPEED RACER
I’ve never had much interest in cars, so I couldn’t picture a 1966 SS 396 Chevy Chevelle – but I could tell it meant something to you. I did an online search to find what I would call a sweet ride. The kind of car that would get noticed even by a small girl. Very cool.
SWEET AND JUICIEST . . . EVER!
As a young adult who was living on her own in Santa Barbara, I was . . . well, smacked with the reality that if I wanted to eat an orange, I would have TO BUY it. Buy it?!
Growing up in the Ranch, whenever I wanted to eat an orange, I would just step into the nearby orchard and pick one off the tree.
I couldn’t do that in my new home in Santa Barbara. Because oranges had become a staple in my diet, I finally broke down and bought a few. I was so disappointed.
The next time I visited my parents in the Ranch I told them about my store-bought oranges.
From that visit on, when I packed my car as I got ready to drive back to Santa Barbara, my father always slipped a small box of Rancho Sespe oranges into the trunk of my car.
Thanks again for sharing your memories.