{"product_id":"vintage-1940s-capital-pak-crate-label-from-sacramento-california","title":"Vintage 1940s Capital Pak Crate Label 🏛️ from Sacramento, California","description":"\u003ch2\u003eRemember Capital Pak? 🏛️ Vintage 1940s Crate Label From Sacramento, California\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize: 12 3\/4 x 4 inches ~\u003c\/strong\u003e Little to slight wear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GIvqY4__HFU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🚚 Free USA Shipping — ships within one business day.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe California State Capitol lit up at night under a deep blue sky, gold dome and all, with \u003cstrong\u003eCAPITAL PAK\u003c\/strong\u003e in big three-dimensional yellow letters running beside it. This is one of the best-looking long strip labels I carry, and it's a real piece of Sacramento: the fruit house was in Sacramento, the building on it is in Sacramento, and the company that printed it got its start in Sacramento. New Old Stock, never pasted on a crate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🏛️ What's on it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Produce of U.S.A.\"\u003c\/em\u003e in the upper corner, the Capitol with its trees and palms, \u003cstrong\u003eCAPITAL PAK\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eCALIFORNIA\u003c\/strong\u003e arched over a gold-rimmed shield reading \u003cstrong\u003eLAMBERT MARKETING CO.\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cem\u003e\"Main Office, Sacramento, Calif.\"\u003c\/em\u003e Down in the corner in tiny type is the printer's mark, \u003cem\u003e\"Crocker-Union, S.F.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e📅 How old is it?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat little printer's mark does the dating. H.S. Crocker \u0026amp; Co. bought the Union Lithograph Company in 1922, and the two ran under the \u003cstrong\u003eCrocker-Union\u003c\/strong\u003e name from \u003cstrong\u003e1936 to 1946\u003c\/strong\u003e, so this label came off the press in that ten-year window, right in the heart of the crate label years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🍐 Lambert Marketing Company\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLambert Marketing Company was incorporated in California on \u003cstrong\u003eJanuary 12, 1931\u003c\/strong\u003e, under \u003cstrong\u003eWilliam A. Lambert\u003c\/strong\u003e, with \u003cstrong\u003eR.V. Lambert\u003c\/strong\u003e as president. Despite the name, they really did pack fruit. The company was headquartered in Sacramento, later West Sacramento, sourced Bartlett pears from growers in El Dorado County, and packed apricots and cherries too. Their \"Big City\" pear brand was first used in 1931, and by 1936 they had a packing house down in San Jose on Bassett Street. They were already shipping California Bartletts clear to Illinois by the summer of 1932; a federal food case over 632 boxes of their pears that August is one of the oldest papers the company left behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🖨️ The Crocker family, printers\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe printer has a great Sacramento story of its own. \u003cstrong\u003eHenry Smith Crocker\u003c\/strong\u003e (1832–1904) followed the Gold Rush to California, settled in Sacramento and opened his printing business there in \u003cstrong\u003e1856\u003c\/strong\u003e. His brother was \u003cstrong\u003eCharles Crocker\u003c\/strong\u003e, one of the \"Big Four\" behind the Central Pacific Railroad, and Henry got rich almost overnight through his ties to the railroad before he moved to San Francisco in 1871. By the 1930s the Crocker-Union shop in San Francisco was turning out crate labels like this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🏛️ The Capitol on the label\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe building took fourteen years. Work started in 1860 on a design by Miner Frederick Butler, who won the competition and a $1,500 prize, with \u003cstrong\u003eReuben Clark\u003c\/strong\u003e as supervising architect. The winter floods of 1861–62, and again in 1868, were so bad that the first floor was buried to make today's basement and the ground floor was raised. Clark was relieved in 1865 after five years of political fights and intense strain, and the story told around Sacramento is that the job drove him out of his mind. Five architects in all had a hand in it before the Legislature finally met in its new chambers on December 6, 1869, and the last interior work wrapped up in 1874.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA century later it was in trouble. A 1971 seismic report said it couldn't survive a strong earthquake, and instead of building a new one, California restored the old Capitol from 1976 to 1982 as the state's big Bicentennial project. So the building on this label is the same one you can walk through today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003e🏡 Display\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong and skinny, it's perfect over a doorway, a window or a kitchen cabinet run. Great for anybody from Sacramento, anyone who works at the Capitol, or a California history wall.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCrate labels are a reminder of a bygone era, and the lithography on them is unparalleled even to this day, in my opinion. Museums and art institutes have galleries dedicated to them, and more and more collectors are seeking them out to preserve their history. There is no new press run coming. When the last of these are hanging in collections and galleries, they will be very hard to track down for sale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-tri-x-brand-tomatoes-crate-label-watsonville-ca\"\u003eVintage 1940s Tri X Brand Tomatoes Crate Label 🍅 Watsonville California, Ripe Tomato Graphic\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/1940s-quail-crate-label-california-fruit-exchange-vintage-treasures\"\u003eVintage 1940s Quail Brand Crate Label 🍐 Contra Costa Bartlett Pears, Blue Anchor California Fruit Exchange, Valley Quail Bird Art\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-1940s-whistle-brand-crate-label-wileman-bros-elliott-cutler-ca\"\u003eVintage 1940s Whistle Brand Crate Label 💨 — Brass Steam Whistle Art, Wileman Bros. \u0026amp; Elliott, Cutler CA\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53127744094489,"sku":"VAG-9182549672168","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1003\/0153\/7561\/files\/il_fullxfull.7032712636_iqba.jpg?v=1788994127","url":"https:\/\/touchofmodern.com\/products\/vintage-1940s-capital-pak-crate-label-from-sacramento-california","provider":"Touch of Modern","version":"1.0","type":"link"}