CRATE ESCAPES : Fruit Box Labels Transcend Commercial Applications in John Wayne Airport Exhibit

Before college kids used orange crates for storing record albums, the slatted, wooden boxes were actually used to ship fruit around the country. And pasted on the end of each box was a colorful label, a miniature work of art painstakingly designed, that helped to separate apples and oranges.

Today the labels, recognized as relatives of pop art, have become collector’s items. Featured in exhibits in London, Amsterdam, France and across the United States, a collection of the lively, nostalgic labels can be seen through May 18 at John Wayne Airport. “The Big Orange: Produce Box Labels 1885 to 1955” is an exhibit of 230 labels from the archives of Hillcrest Press Inc. in Santa Ana, which function as a record of the California commercial art form.

“These are never presented as fine art,” says guest curator Gordon McClelland, a collector who also has co-written two books on labels. “They are what they are, an excellent example of graphic and commercial art during that time.”

Popular from the late 1880s until the mid-1950s, when cardboard boxes replaced wood, most of the tens of thousands of labels designed were created by San Francisco and Los Angeles artists. Often two artists would collaborate on a single label, one to handle the illustration, the other to design the lettering.

If the label colors seem especially vibrant, it’s because shades were hand-mixed, and up to 12 colors may be found on one work, McClelland explains. You’ll find no black, only a mix of deep blues.

Of particular interest are the labels displayed in the first two cases at Gate 1 and Gate 11. These works are examples of early American lithography, McClelland says, when artists drew directly onto four-inch slabs of Bavarian limestone, in the tradition of Toulouse-Lautrec. Like contemporary commercial art, the labels were not selling only oranges--they were selling image, and the exhibit outlines several themes frequently used during 70 years of design. American Indian themes, stylized and stereotyped, were used for brands such as the Minnehaha orange from Sunkist. Mexican and mythic themes, women, animals, birds, and sports images were also popular.

The exhibit also details the evolution of label design, demonstrating how early naturalistic designs, sometimes copied from real watercolor or oil paintings, were later replaced by a more graphic use of figures, space and letters to create a poster-like effect.

What: “The Big Orange: Produce Box Labels 1885-1955.”

When: Through May 18. The terminal is open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight.

Where: John Wayne Airport, departure level of Thomas F. Riley Terminal opposite gates 1 through 4 and 11 through 14.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to MacArthur Boulevard and follow signs to John Wayne Airport.

Wherewithal: Admission is free.

Where to call: (714) 252-5219.