A story of the demise of the wood apple box--yet still availsble.
---NAILED AGAIN by DAVE JOHNSON
WITH OUT DOUBT--THE LAST COMMERCIAL WOOD APPLE & FRUIT
BOX MAKER IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST USA.
[Also a description of how the apple box was used]
02/27/2005
It was a fateful day and experience back in 1946, when I picked up a box hatchet, because that was to be the beginning
of a lifetime occupation, one of which well supported my own family as time went by. The next fifty-nine years makes for
an interesting story, one that catalogs my involvement in the demise of the wood box industry in the entire Pacific Northwest
fruit growing areas; interesting too, because I am actually still in the business even though everyone else had quit many
years ago. I can safely claim to be the last Commercial Apple Box Maker, possibly anywhere. Just last year of 2004,
I made and sold about 1000 standard apple boxes and 50,000 miniature apple crates.
I was the youngest of four brothers, just turning thirteen years old when the family moved from Missoula, Montana to
Manson, Wash. in the spring of 1946. We were know as the Hardy boys, but actually the family had three different names;
Hardy, Barbre and Johnson. I was the youngest, the tall skinny one, already six foot tall and weighing about one hundred
fifty pounds. Manson is about ten miles up-lake from the town of Chelan; nestled on the shores of Lake Chelan and
surrounded by very productive apple orchards. The winter of 1946 was when the school bus tragedy happened, sliding
into the lake, which resulted in many untimely deaths. That spot proved to be right across the lake from where I was to live;
about two miles across.
Perhaps it was providential that the house the family moved into was right next to Chelan Box & Mfg. Co., a lake front home
on Lake Chelan as well. It was a good place to live. Most of that first summer I did a lot of swimming & fishing. My two older
brothers got jobs in the Box Factory, which manufactured mostly apple & pear boxes. My full brother Bill, the same
Bill Johnson who was on the 1950 high school State winning basketball team; who was twenty months older than me got work
in the orchards thinning apples. I too wanted to earn some spending money, but for the most part was too young for regular
employment, and being bothered by hay fever, could not work in the orchards anyway. Some said because I was so tall and
having a good reach, I would make a good apple thinner. Unknown to everyone, I considered my hay fever a blessing as it
kept me out of the orchards. I soon discovered a way to make some money though, as our near neighbor, Walter Blessin
was an apple grower. Many today in the Chelan\Manson area know Lanny Blessin his son, who I grew up and did a lot of
things together with. Like many other orchard growers in the area Walter and family assembled their own wood apple boxes
by hand. The box form, nails, "nail stripper" and all the "box shook" was in an old storage building that I had unlimited random
access to. Although I didn't get paid, I initially would pass many hours of time there, nailing boxes, "having fun" practicing &
improving my nailing abilities. No doubt Walter appreciated the contribution. Just the smell of all that fresh cut Pine was
inviting. Before the summer was over I did some box nailing at another apple shed for two cents a box, the going piece
rate per box. The pennies added up. It was a good job for kids who were willing to work.
There were many other small orchardists that had concerns about getting their boxes assembled. It took valuable time,
and if you needed ten thousand of them, it could be a problem. Nailing machines really had not surfaced much in the
apple growing areas as yet, so most growers had all members of their families (including the girls) nailing boxes whenever
they could; there wasn't such a thing as "free time". Hand nailing was a learned and artful accomplishment. It involved
mastering the ability to slide out of the nail stripper eight or nine 5-1/2dd box nails between your thumb & forefinger and
then with an uninterrupted "tap-bam" action with the hatchet, nail on the respective side-bottom-side components a total
of 24 nails. It's an art that has died out with the demise of the apple box in 1958. The next year (1947) I helped another box
maker assemble 30,000 boxes and before the season was over, I could assemble 600 a day. In 1948 & 1949 I regularly
assembled 800 boxes a day, making $16.00 a day while family men down at the box factory were getting about $1.00-$1.20
an hour. I made 35,000 boxes in 1948 by myself, more than that in 1949. On two occasions, I actually nailed 1000 boxes in
one day. At least once or twice a season I would "tap" a nail through the end flesh of my left hand third finger; it would slow
me up a little for that day. That finger was used to position each sequential eight nails. The little finger served as a guide on
the left edge of the box. For a left hand box nailer it would be just the opposite. Each nail was completely driven in one single
stroke; thus "tap-bam". I didn't have the comfort of being inside a cool cold storage building, being outside, positioned above
the orchards upper hillside overlooking the lake about three miles away. For protection from the sun, I used some apple tree
props & fashioned a cardboard shelter. The boss supplied me with about one hundred feet of old warehouse conveyer rollers
that I filled up & emptied two or three times a day. I had to stack them by hand as high as I could throw them, which was about
nine feet up. When the foreman got enough boxes in that area of the orchard, they would move me to another spot. I usually
finished the hand nailing by the end of August.
Those same two years, 1948 and 1949, at harvest time, I also worked in the packing shed hand nailing the lids onto the same
‘packed’ boxes I had nailed that summer. The lidding process was done using a special press designed to that end. I would
position a special red or purple pad (red for “C” grade, purple for “extra fancy grade”) under the lid, and then carefully compress
the packed box of apples pushing down on a foot lever that would lock into a hold down position while I did the nailing. As both
the bottom & lid were made with thin veneer, both would bow, so after nailing the box it would take on the shape of a football.
After nailing I released the lever lock & tipped the whole thing out the back of the press onto a live conveyer belt that took it into
the cold storage area. The workers in the cold storage would now have to stack them on their sides. Doing the lidding was kind
of a ‘fun’ job. As I was an accomplished ‘hand nailer’, the workload was no challenge for me to keep up which was about 1500
to 3000 boxes a day. I kept the large wood stove that heated the place going as well as making a large pot of coffee on it for
the packing crew at break time. I had a radio by my workstation so I got to listen to the World Series as I did the lidding.
In 1952, both myself and a friend moved to Wenatchee where we had a job opportunity to work for H.R. Spinner Co.
(now Wilbur Ellis) We hired on as Box Nailing machine operators. This was about April first. My friend lasted about two weeks
and quit; what I should say is that he just disappeared. I didn’t find out for a couple of weeks that he had enlisted into the military.
As Spinner company really needed production, the pay was "piece work" (50 cents per 100) and I was told that they expected
an operator to assemble 500 boxes an hour. At this time I was introduced to the General nailing machine, a much simpler
machine than a FMC machine I formally operated. The faster I could run it, the better it worked, so after getting familiar with it, I
was pumping out 800+ boxes an hour, getting 8000 a day in nine and half hours. Collectively, before seasons end in November
I would have assemble upwards to a million boxes, starting with 15 and 20 pound cherry boxes, then Jypos,
(later called western lug) pear, and finally apple boxes. Sandwiched between all of that were some four basket crates & other
smaller boxes for apricots & peaches. By the harvest time of the year, some box factories, by necessity had to process “green”
lumber into apple box shook. Accordingly I had to nail it, and I recall how heavy & wet it was. My arms would about fall off from
the extra pressure needed to separate & lift the side panels. After seasons end I would have all of December to March or April
to do other things or do nothing.
In preparation for harvest, apple boxes were “wind rowed” out into the orchards. They would make an educated estimate of how
many boxes were needed to hold all the apples on a given tree or group of trees. Perhaps the exception, but I remember that
just one tree would fill a hundred boxes. Apple trees are not allowed to get that big now. Pickers hopefully would carefully empty
their picking bags into the boxes; then what was called the “swamping” crew would manually bring the filled boxes out of the
orchards on special trailers and sleds and hand stack them six high on loading docks waiting hauling to the packing shed. Using
special clamp hand trucks, the six high stacks of filled boxes would be transferred to a truck and hauled to the packing shed
where unloading was done in the same manner; no fork lift trucks. At harvest time it seemed that the population of Chelan &
Manson would double or even triple because of all the activity. All of the manual work, from picking to packing that needed to be
done attracted workers from all over the nation. It would include everyone from the so-called transient winos, arkies & Oakies,
some with their entire families.
The sheds would process and pack all their associate growers fruit and then stop all packing operations. Now they would
concentrate on selling the crop. Today, the packing process is spread out the year around due to “controlled atmosphere”
storage capabilities. It took at least two of the loose picked apple boxes to make one packed box, so the excess boxes were
recycled back to the orchard. So the wood apple box did everything needed from orchard to consumer; harvesting, packing,
and shipping. It didn't stop there because the consumer did everything imaginable with the apple box. They were used as
furniture, scooters, window and wall shelves, storage of all sorts to name a few. They all had a colorful label attached, some of
which were real pieces of art. People today see them as something to collect.
I worked through the 1955 season at Spinner Co. In 1956 things changed; I guess you could call me entrepreneur minded. I
was aware of a need for a "box nailing service" and began to feel out the possibility by talking to several apple packing
warehouse managers up and down the Wenatchee\Okanogan Valley. It appeared that all except the very largest of the Co-ops
were interested. By now they had already gotten their own nailing machines. Some packing sheds were experiencing problems
getting their boxes done in a timely & economical manner. Even if they had a nailing machine, they would have different people
on it each year. Accordingly, it proved troublesome to keep the machine running efficiently and a great effort to keep any one
motivated, especially if paid by the hour. As I always said, “boxes do not get assembled unless the nailing machine is going up
and down”.
This job scouting activity came to the attention of Spinner Co. Now I was forced to make a decision; would I stay or not. They
needed to know if I needed to be replaced. In retrospect, undoubtedly, they didn't like seeing me go. I really was a good machine
operator & consistently produced. I guess that if you have work ethics like that, it's not surprising that I figured I could better
myself by being self employed. That did prove true, as I more than doubled what I made per day at Spinners and that was after
paying wages to two helpers.
This was the spring of 1956, an anxious time. I had gotten married the summer of 1955 and now had my first child due in
September 1956. I did not actually have contracts; it was all-informal; this was in the days that “gentleman agreements” had true
value. I was told, "If you get the nailing machine etc, yes, you can assemble our boxes, let us know."
Part of the preplanning in this venture was being sure that I could secure a nailing machine, because without one I couldn't do
anything. I could not afford to buy one, the price was $8000.00. I couldn’t get a bank to finance it because it was considered a
single purpose item. They reasoned that if they had to repossess it, whom could they sell it to? The General Nailing Machine
agent in Yakima had a rental program, so I immediately negotiated the rental agreement and brought a machine home to
Wenatchee. It was basically a brand new machine. Again in retrospect, that was the best deal ever, the rent being $175.00 per
month. It was a provision available for apple sheds that badly needed a machine on a short term basis to finish a season and it
was expected that use of it wouldn't be all that great. What they didn't really know and appreciate was the fact that I would really
get my moneys worth. That first season I assembled about 750,000 apple and pear boxes in six to seven months. I was able to
get the same machine for the second season in 1957. In 1958;--Now the company changed their policy, no more rentals. Now
what in the world would I do? The dilemma that developed was that I had a full season lined up, and now it appeared I
would be forced to purchase a machine. I still couldn't afford to purchase it, and like the apple sheds, why invest a lot of money
into what appears to be a dying activity? I really was not charging enough for my services; I was just making a good job for myself.
The non-rental decision was a result of the times. Throughout the entire agriculture industry, nailing machine sales were suffering.
From California (where Generals machines were made) to Washington, container changes were happening. Corrugated
cartons were replacing wood boxes in all areas. In Washington, apples were the first to convert to cartons, the last commercial
use of the wood box being in 1958.
As mentioned earlier, the large Co-ops were nailing their own boxes; their volume obviously justifying the purchasing of nailing
machines. As a Co-op they had many associated small growers, so all the boxes would be assembled in one place, usually inside
the nice, cool & empty cold storage warehouse. Such Co-ops were the first to start forward development to convert to cardboard
cartons, which had been in the planning stages for several years. First though, they had to develop methods to handle apples out in
the orchards in bulk, which proved to be the large tote bins that pickers would place the fruit into. Also they would have to equip field
tractors with forklift abilities. Receiving sheds also would purchase forklift trucks. One or two lift trucks would replace hundreds of
manual workers. Things were changing & changing fast. Some of the Co-ops also packed fresh cherries and pears. Now their wood
box needs were not really as great as before and they were receptive to my contract services. Not only that, but I could use their
nailing machine(s), not just for their boxes, but for all my contract services. I would take care of any maintenance. It wasn't long
before there were many surplus machines scattered around the country, both "framers & lidders, and some having both attachments.
For apples, the conversion to cardboard cartons from wood boxes happened almost in one season. Anything beyond that was simply
to use up old inventory.
I never did have to purchase a nailing machine to function as a contract nailing service. Later on though, I purchased many of them,
which is another story. Being the enterprising person I apparently was, none of them cost me any of my own money. It never ceased
to amaze me that when a "fruit shed" is through with a piece of equipment, regardless of its condition, it's relegated to the scrap pile.
That was particularly true of the sheds that dealt with apples only. Sheds that packed both apples and cherries continued to keep &
use their nailing machines for cherry boxes, but all the time preparing to change to cardboard. The changes did not happen all at
once like it was for apples, it took another ten years. For me, it was like each year could well be my last year. Each year I would lose
an account, which would be replaced by another that wanted my services.
At this point my operations went “full circle” because now, about 1962, I actually contracted the H.R. Spinner box operation as well
as their counterpart Northwest Wholesale, taking on the entire workload of a million plus boxes a season. Now instead of going
from shed to shed, all nailing was done in the Spinner warehouse, then they would deliver made up boxes to the packing sheds.
That way the sheds avoided any box making activities. I soon learned that I could no longer work on the crew. Up until now I was
just a one-machine operation, now I had to have up to three crews. The Spinner job included cherry, western lugs, and pear boxes;
apple boxes were a thing of the past. That lasted up through the 1968 season, then it all died. The Wenatchee\Okanogan wood
box reign was dead. The wood box factories in Oroville, Omak, Twisp, Brewster, Chelan, Ardenvoir, Peshastin, Cashmere, and
Malaga were all gone. Now what; was it all over? Not yet! There was yet to be another ten years, which proved to be a repeating
of the Wenatchee district box dying process; only it was to be in the cherry growing areas served by the Yakima branch of H.R.
Spinner Co.
Unknown to me there were box assembly problems in the cherry packing sheds that were serviced by H.R. Spinner Co. in Yakima.
When Spinners learned about Dave Johnson it didn't take long to make contact. Starting in 1969, what proved to be a coordinated
arrangement was entered into. Spinner Company, as a supplier would facilitate deliveries of shook so I always had it when needed
on a given job. Down time was not a luxury during the Cherry season. They got all their box shook from northern California, and
supplied all cherry sheds from Hood River, Oregon to Kalispell, Montana. The sheds were having the same difficulties with worn
out nailing machines & new operators each season that just did not seem to ever get enough production, which necessitated
working nailing machine crews around the clock. As a result my production volume jumped back up to over one and half million boxes.
When a cherry operation is packing 1000 boxes an hour and they run a day and night shift, they have to have the boxes on hand
ready to pack. Yet there was always the uncomfortable feeling that an untimely rainy period may move in and ruin the crop, so they
were apprehensive to pre-nail more than fifty percent of their projected seasons need. Even then they were nervous. I would do a
pre-season nailing with one crew and in the process train new operators. I was fortunate to have good operators; their goal was to
make 10,000 a day. While they would make about 50,000 boxes in one place, I would be setting up the next job. By this time I owned
eight machines. After a few days a given shed started to pack cherries, I had to get a crew back there, which meant that the number
one crew would split up and more helpers hired. I didn't have much trouble finding good help; school was out by now, and what I
offered seemed to be preferred over other types of related work. The box crew would keep up with the day shift packing; the night
packing crew would use up their reserve stock. Hopefully, by seasons end for any one of the packing sheds, which was about two
and a half “seven day” weeks, it would come out even. For the most part it did. Sizable jobs were done in Hood River, The Dalles,
and Milton Freewater Oregon; also Prosser, Grandview, Zillah, Wapato, and Yakima, Washington; then over to Kalispell and
Polson, Montana. The season started about the middle of April and ended the middle of August. The last big volume year was
1977, and then a couple years of "clean up." It was all over and finished.
Now, was the box business all finished as well, did it die the death this time? Almost, but not yet. I say almost because I got
involved in selling used nailing machines. I was in an unique position knowing where used machines were. In California, there was
a big move on to convert the conventional General nailing machines into what they called "fully automatics," which were specifically
modified for the "fresh" grape box. The grape box was the one that had the end corners "dog eared" off. A fully automatic Nailing
machine would assemble about 2000 boxes per hour. I am not real sure, but I believe that there were only about 2000 General
machines built. New ones were no longer being built so the demand for the used ones was pretty good. So for about the next six
or seven years I was involved in buying & selling nailing machines. I sold off some of my own machines first, (but always keeping
the best one(s). During this same time other people kept coming to me for wood box related things, like overhauling machines for
Asparagus growers in Washington & Oregon or even wanting to buy a machine. I even found a market for nailing machines in
Alaska. Before it was over I probably sold off a couple hundred machines, virtually emptying all fruit growing areas within a 400-mile
radius of Wenatchee. As I continued to be involved in wood box activities, and seeing a market in California for KD box shook, I
purchased the needed saws & milling equipment and established accounts in California that would take everything I could produce.
Now I was a box “factory” and it is now 1983. Since then to the present the primary focus and work was supplying California, the last
item being vegetable crate slats and pre-assembled crate end panels. During this time the grape box had been replaced by
cardboard & plastic. There is still a good volume of vegetable crates being made, but I could no longer compete with Canadian
lumber price inequities from the North and Hispanic labor in the South, so I ceased all California business January 2003.
I am retired (on paper anyway) and along with my Social Security and the lease of my facility & machinery to my son Greg, I get
by OK.. Now though the box business was not making enough money. Greg had a job opportunity open up to him that would pay
well, so it was decided he should take it. Greg had always been with me in business his whole life. Having ideas of diversification,
I told him that I might be able to turn the business around so that he could come back if it really looked good enough. Time will tell
on that matter. It would be a shame if I eventually have to dispose of all box related machinery & lease the building empty,
especially with the potential that the business currently appears to have in other areas. Then too, there is the possibility of
selling the entire business, machinery & all.
For now I am exclusively doing specialty boxes. I get some business off the Internet, but it may not be enough to keep pursuing. I
still have eight nailing machines. Last year, 2004 I used six of them on six different boxes. I can produce boxes with a nostalgic air
about them. Last holiday season I made over 50,000 special little crates that ended up in Safeway stores nation wide & HEB
stores in Texas. I have diversified some as well, now manufacturing Cedar Grilling planks that are used to grill Salmon & other meats.
Also there has developed a special and unique combination of three persons (including myself) that see a tremendous opportunity
and market for a small, nostalgic wood crate of gift apples or other fruit, or perhaps just a genuine empty wood apple or pear box with
a colorful old time label. To be able to actually accomplish that project could not be done without the wood box factory, the box nailing
machines and the expertise of running them that it takes, and the many years of sales experience of two local apple sales marketers
and the sales connections they have along with the connections to get the boxes packed ready for shipping. I truly believe that it is a
project that just could not be accomplished by any one else. ( Postscript)---This venture lasted for 15 years & was discontinued last
year 2009)
So maybe the tenacity of enduring the repeated death of the wood box business is going to pay off. Time will tell as well on that.
Where this story ends is not known as yet. Maybe the slogan that I and my son often reminded everyone will come true for the box
business, which was "Remember, Sooner or Later, Everything Goes in a Box"; hopefully later rather than sooner. One thing for sure,
you do not want to bet on another wood apple and fruit box maker to make an appearance.
The box factory is located at 725 1/2 S. Columbia St., Wenatchee, Wa.
ADDENDUM---NOVEMBER 2008
It is now November 2008. Greg took the job in 2003. Now he is doing well as an accomplished plumber.
During 2004 to 2008 I have been quite busy doing small jobs that just kept coming my way and at the same
time selling off material inventory. Also I have been selling random saws & machinery. The first big sell off
was my Baker Quad resaw which went to a pallet mill in Arkansas, then I sold six of my eight nailing machines to a Bee hive
manufacturing company; four of the machines went to Oregon\California areas and two to Florida. It appears that their customers
want to buy hives that are already assembled, it takes too much time putting them together. Then in April 2008 I leased most of
my shop building to another, unrelated wood working business, keeping a small area for myself. I still have some major milling
equipment which I haven't sold, so I included those in the lease along with the agreement I could occassionally use them. So as
of now I am still accepting a few, selected small orders & taking care of several repeat customers.
It is now August 2010. I am still on the "full" retirement mental mindset; knowing that I am in the dieing age bracket. I am in good
shape though, I am not one to sit around, I do not take any medication of any kind. So I am still doing some little jobs, doing so at
my own pace & time.
Making a few boxes is a great way for making some retirement income and for keeping things from getting too boring.
I still have two nailing machines, but have recently come up with another business plan. I modified one of the machines to
assemble boxes as short as 8.75" long and only about 3.375" wide by 3.25"deep, having fund raiseing & special gifts in mind.
This is not an easy thing to accomplish. It is very possible with that ability I may soon have a very, very attractive lucrative business
for my Son & grandsons; if not then sell it outright. There are other things as well; there generally is a market for well made wood
boxes, amoung them being larger display crates.
So the story isn't over yet--We are already approaching 2011. My renters moved out Dec. 2009 so & I have the entire building to my self-----------------------------
There is a good market for nostalgic wood boxes. Stay tuned--------------------------