Crate Label, Bronco Navel Oranges Redlands, Original Western, Vintage, 1949

Before supermarkets. Before plastic wrap. Before everything was the same everywhere — there were crate labels.

This is an original California citrus crate label — a stone lithograph printed by Western Lithograph Company of Los Angeles for Redlands Foothills Groves, Redlands, California. This specific size was printed in 1949, but the design itself was introduced circa 1937 and continued into the 1950s — one of the longest-running and most beloved labels in the California citrus canon. It has never been used. Never folded. Never attached to a crate. It is New Old Stock in excellent mint condition.

The label is extraordinary. A Vaquero — a Mexican cowboy — rides a full-speed bronco across the composition, lasso coiled and ready, the horse at full extension beneath him. The image was inspired by a painting by H.W. Hansen, an artist of the H.S. Crocker Company of San Francisco — a named artistic source that is almost unheard of in crate label provenance. The motion is captured with the authority of someone who understood horses and the men who worked them. This label carries no image of oranges. It carries something better: the spirit of California's ranching and agricultural past in full gallop.

Frame it as Western or equestrian decor, as California history art, or as a piece of the golden age of American lithography that happened to arrive on a fruit crate. At approximately 10.75 by 9.875 inches it suits a standard 11x14 frame and commands any wall it occupies — a study, a ranch office, a hallway, a room that honors the West. One available.

A wonderful gift for a Western enthusiast, an equestrian collector, a California history devotee, a Vaquero culture admirer, or anyone who recognizes that this label is, first and last, a work of art.

A note on crate label collecting: Original lithographic crate labels from this era are increasingly scarce. NOS examples like this one — never used, never folded, in original unused condition — represent the best of what survives. Collectors prize them for their graphic quality and the window they open onto a vanished chapter of American agricultural and commercial history.

• Brand: Bronco Brand / Redlands Foothills Groves, Redlands, California
• Lithographer: Western Lithograph Company, Los Angeles, California (est. late 1890s; in business until 1955)
• Artistic inspiration: H.W. Hansen, artist, H.S. Crocker Company, San Francisco
• Type: Citrus crate label — stone lithograph
• Made in: USA
• Dated: 1949 (this size); design introduced circa 1937
• Dimensions: 10.75" wide | 9.875" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing consistent with period. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Fits a standard 11x14 frame — ready to display