Pear packing
This is a photograph showing four women working on the pear packing line. (Photo taken by Jane Cory Van Dyke, 1984)
Pear production has been popular in Southern Oregon since the 1800s. During World War I, many growers started employing local women seasonally to pack the pears into boxes before shipment. Pear packing is demanding, difficult work, but many of the women involved enjoyed the challenge. Susan J. Reid focused her graduate thesis on women’s role in pear packing in Southern Oregon. Research more on her work here and here.
This is a photograph of four women packing pears in boxes. (Photo taken by Jane Cory Van Dyke, 1984)
This is an overhead photograph of five women working on the pear packing line. (Photo taken by Jane Cory Van Dyke, 1984)
This is a photograph of a woman holding a pear that she is about to pack. (Photo taken by Jane Cory Van Dyke, 1984)
This is a photograph of nine women working on the pear packing line at Nye & Naumes Packing House in the 1950s. Research more on the Stories of Southern Oregon page on SODA.
This is an overhead photograph of women working on the pear packing line at Naumes, Inc. in the 1990s. Research more on the Stories of Southern Oregon page on SODA.