Sun-Maid Raisins

I never really cared for raisins in my deserts or cereals, but I’ve always loved to just eat them right out of the Sun-Maid box. In 1873, Francis T. Eisen planted an experimental vineyard of Muscat grapes on 25 acres along Fancher Creek, just east of Fresno. By 1878, packaged raisins were being shipped out of the state, and by 1903, California was producing 120 million pounds of raisins a year.

H H Welsh was the first president of the Sun-Maid Raisin Growers Association. He was born in 1856 in Marysville, California, the son of James Welsh, an Irish miner, and saloon-keeper, and listed his occupation in 1910 as “Lawyer, General Partner.” In 1912 when an entrepreneurial group of raisin growers agreed over shared dreams and sturdy handshakes to sell raisins as one. They had no name and no sales plan.

But with the guidance of a wise and well-respected farmer, named H.H. Welsh, The California Associated Raisin Company began its century-long journey of spreading sweet raisins around the world. By 1920 he had retired to run his own vineyard in Fresno.

H. H. Welsh, an attorney, aged 88 years, died on February 17, 1945. He left an estate valued in excess of $600,000. a local advertiser named, E.A. Berg coined one of the most iconic brand names in American history: Sun-Maid — a nod to the natural process of raisins being “made” in the California sun.

Dozens of packing houses sprouted up across the San Joaquin Valley, employing hundreds of immigrant people. These facilities received sun-dried raisins from growers, which they stored, processed, packaged, and shipped throughout the United States and to countries around the world. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, farmers and immigrants from the East settled the area for the first time, and growers were able to quickly transport products from the West to new markets.

In 1872, Leland Stanford brought the Central Pacific Railroad^[1] to the San Joaquin Valley, choosing a location in present-day downtown Fresno as the rail stop, Fresno Station.

In 1915, a young woman, named Lorraine Collett was spotted drying her hair in a bright red bonnet by Sun-Maid director, L.R. Payne. He politely asked Miss Lorraine if she would pose for a painting that would become the Sun-Maid logo found on every little red box to this day.

She attended the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco as one of several young girls representing the California Associated Raisin Company. In May 1916, company executives agreed Collett would become the personification of the company.

Her image with the sunbonnet and the tray of grapes was updated in 1956 and again in 1970. The drawing was made for SunMaid boxes by a San Francisco artist who worked for the “Fiberboard Paper Co.” Collett continued to make special appearances as the original Sun-Maid Girl until her death at the age of 90. It was time to expand. And expand they did, constructing a beautiful new processing plant, in Fresno, California, dubbed “the finest factory building this side of Detroit.”

By the late 70s, raisins weren’t the only way Sun-Maid naturally sweetened people’s lives. Dried apricots and prunes joined the family along with an updated look to Miss Lorraine’s likeness — a timeless look that hasn’t been touched since. A group of Dancing Raisins was introduced by the California Raisin Advisory Board in a campaign that would draw a decade of smiles from viewers.

In 1992, a few ambitious students at California State University had the crazy idea of constructing a 12-foot by eight-foot raisin box. Turns out, filling it with 16,500 pounds of raisins was enough to get in the Guinness Book of Records. The giant red box currently resides at Sun-Maid’s headquarters. Chocolate-covered raisins and an expanded line of specialty fruits were also marquee product innovations for Sun-Maid during the 90s.