King Citrus and the Selling of the California Dream | LA Foodways | KCET

[@danielroque8504]

I grew up in Redlands Ca. (citrus town) from Redlands, East Highland, Greenspot, Mentone, Yucaipa, San Timoteo canyon, into Bryn Mawr/Loma Linda. During my kid time, all I remember were orange groves everywhere (two lanes going in/out of Redlands). I remember the cold winters, my family getting up at 0 dark 30, to go start the smudge pots (the winters were brutal back then). The smell of the smudge pots, orange blossoms, such a wonderful time.....now these places are concrete jungles....I was so fortunate to have grown up during the hey day of citrus...picking a nice cold orange, delicious~cant forget the San Bernardino National Orange Show....

[@lindaharding5783]

Me too!

[@johnnyjames7139]

Pacific Electric Railway offered the Orange Empire Trolley trip from Los Angeles with a stop for lunch at the Mission Inn, Riverside and miles of riding thru the orange groves. When I was a child in the 1950's, you went thru orange groves from Fullerton to Tustin and beyond on the Santa Fe San Diegan.

[@cedricsmith8188]

Amazing.

[@lindawoody8501]

My Great Grandmother's two brothers had an orange grove business in Highland, CA at San Bernardino in the 1880s through about 1915. Those were foundational years in the business. For a time, my Great Grandfather also was on the periphery of the orange business as he sold a lot of agricultural equipment. By the way, my hubby's uncle also had oranges in what is now Woodland Hills in Los Angeles. I am old enough to remember seeing a lot of orange groves between Hollywood and Disneyland on I-5 in the late 1950s.

[@DEEDEEGARRETT1]

Great memories. Lived across from an orange grove in chatsworth Ca in 1964. Gone now, but not forgotten. In fact Roy and Dale lived up the road from us 7 kids.And a drive through dairy down the other road to the left. What'd i'd give to have them days back again.

[@cedricsmith8188]

Amazing.

[@cedricsmith8188]

Truly amazing, video. Wonderful California History, and California Citrus History. Amazing.

[@DerGlaetze]

Growing up in the East San Gabriel Valley, in Azusa and Glendora,we were so burned out on eating oranges that we used to have green orange fights, while walking home from school in the abandoned groves. Fun times.

[@cedricsmith8188]

Awesome.

[@jonmacdonald5345]

We used to throw them at cars on the freeway!!!!

[@richardhausman9615]

Azusa had everything from A to Z in the USA.

[@gordybishop2375]

Nice story, thanks for sharing

[@Idahoguy10157]

The continental railroad is what opened California up to the world. Railroad cold cars allowed export of California citrus to back east

[@rabarbosa62754]

Interesting and valuable information of LA & Orange County. ✌️👍🏼😎

[@drubie76]

Excellent

[@marie-helenejuventin2283]

There was already an orange market in california before that. Big american ships brought large quantities of oranges from Tahiti. They were a spanish cultivar that probably originated from the visits of the captain Cook in the late 18th century. It was a green orange that turns yellow when maturing, with quite a thick skin that might have been advantageous for protecting the fruit during transport. Sadly most of the plants in Tahiti were wiped out by a disease in the late 19th century, and california turned to planting their own oranges. The oranges of Tahiti still survive in the wild in some mountains, protected by their isolation. The tradition of harvesting them and transport them down the mountain on the back of men is still a lively tradition honored every year for the few weeks when the oranges ripen. The shoulders of the transporters grows a protective ball of fat under the skin after years of hawling heavy loads of oranges balanced on a wooden stick resting on their shoulder. Those were the first Californian oranges.

[@claudianova6085]

❤

[@charlesgates2908]

Now We get them from Brazil.

[@kidmohair8151]

yeah...that last picture was staged. an art director's nightmare too, I'm willing to bet