Thursday, July 14, 2011

Oregon Pear and Peach Orchard

Soon I will run out of giant fruit and vegetable cards to post on this blog. Some people may consider this a blessing. But the message on the backs of these cards have often been very entertaining too. Here's one of pears and peaches in Oregon. It seems strange to group those two together, since they ripen at different times of the year...not to mention that Oregon is hardly prime peach-growing territory. Well, never mind all that. We do grow great pears here.


 And here's the back of the card.


The virtually punctuation-free message on the card sent to Rebecca Bales is not that exciting. It reads:

Dear Sis
I received your card was glad to hear from you will try to write a letter for that country soon though am pretty busy to write hope every thing  is O.K.  up there every thing  is O.K. here so write As Ever
F.B.

So, here's what's interesting (to me, anyway) about this card: it was sent to Dorena, Oregon, a logging and gold-mining town that doesn't exist anymore. For reasons unknown to me, the name of the town was created by combining the first names of Dora Burnette and Rena Martin. The town already had a school and a post office back in the 1890s. In the 1940s, the Corps. of Engineers began constructing a dam on the nearby Row River. According to Wikipedia,  the entire town was flooded and approximately 100 households were moved five miles upriver. It's still called Dorena, but it's not the same place. The lake created by the dam is called Dorena Lake.

12 comments:

  1. The Yamhill cancellation is very fitting for a postcard featuring fruit.

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  2. That wouldn't be my Aunty Dora would it?

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  3. You have the best exaggeration postcards!

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  4. Alan, I was wondering that too. I think she added the e at the end of the name as a feminine touch.

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  5. Well, I for one, love love love the giant fruit cards so bring 'em on!

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  6. Nobody will impeach somebody for driving (a wheelbarrow) while im-peared.
    And Texans thought everything is bigger in Texas...

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  7. This just makes you want to reach out and enjoy a peach! Thanks!

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  8. Oh Christine, you must find more giant fruit postcards....they're the best! I haven't seen this one before, and it's a good one.

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  9. That's a very interesting story about Dorena. i just ate a nice fresh peach today too. There were 4 towns in western Massachusetts that were flooded to provide drinking water for the Boston area. I bet there are some awesome postcards of those old towns. Thanks for sharing this and thanks for visiting my crazy blog. :)

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  10. The giant fruit and veggie cards don't usually do alot for me- pretty redundant old days agricultural pissing match between different states- but I find this one quite nice, it could almost be a psychedelic era album cover (the orchard grid lends a Superstudio quality to it, juxtaposed nicely against the 'floating' fruit)! The Allman Bros did a version of the giant fruit postcards for their 1972 'Eat A Peach' album cover, but not nearly as cool as this image...

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  11. Is this how Roald Dahl got the idea for his book? If so, is James one of those in the PC lugging the Giant Peach around? I love the idea of supersize fruit!

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  12. Another great large fruit/produce postcard! I guess you might need a hardhat working in those orchards. One of those falling would probably kill you regardless. Ha!

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