Monday, January 19, 2009

Crate labels, Roy Sakioka and blue minks

When we think of local crate labels, we usually think of citrus. But Orange County has great soil for growing all kinds of crops. For instance, we were once the celery-growing capital of America.
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Above is a celery label from Sakioka Farms, which is still in business. Katsumasa "Roy" Sakioka came to the U.S. from Japan in 1916 with very little but eventually built one of the largest fortunes in Orange County - first through farming and then in real estate. You can read much more about the Sakioka family in this L.A. Times article from 1989.
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What all that has to do with blue minks is beyond me, but it makes for a snappy label.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Orange County was also once the chili pepper capital of the world.

Barry said...

I went to Costa Mesa High School with two of the Sakioka kids in the 60's Phyllis and Roy. They were both great people and were as kind as anyone I ever met.

Anonymous said...

That is a very cool looking label.

I was driving in Santa Ana on Warner yesterday, and saw an old building next to railroad tracks. But the name on it was spelled Hakioka Farms. When I Googled that, I came across this. Nice!

-- Jaime