E. E. Thomas Fruit Company
E. E. Thomas Fruit Company
| Business |
Dried Fruit Packer |
|---|---|
| Main Location |
San Jose |
| Active |
-1899 |
E. E. Thomas Fruit Company was an early San Jose-based dried fruit packer run by Edward E. Thomas and William Cameron as Vice President[1]with E. B. Howard handling the marketing and Thomas handling the drying, dipping, and shipping of fruit. Thomas was the son of a local orchardist, in his thirties, and living at Race and Luther Streets in San Jose. The company shipped 650 carloads of dried fruit in the 1893-1894 season[2], and dried 500 tons of fruit in 1896-1897. The original building burned down in 1897; a new $5,000 plant would replace it[3]. The company also patented a fruit spreading machine, patent 482284.
The company must have been fading by 1899; E. E. Thomas killed himself in 1899, supposedly because of financial pressures. Thomas was owed money by Howard, and had only worked with him because he could not get a loan without using Howard. [4].
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 1893, 1896 | Race Street near San Carlos Street | Northeast corner[5] |
Photos
E. E. Thomas Drying Yard, San Jose History San Jose / Silicon Valley History Online
References
- ↑ 1896 San Jose City Directory
- ↑ The Sunsweet Story
- ↑ Pacific Rural Press, Aug 21 1897
- ↑ SAN JOSE BANK FAILURE DROVE HIM TO SUICIDE: E. E. Thomas, Prominent Fruit Packer, Turned on the Gas and Went Hence.San Francisco Call, Feb. 8 1899. Article includes sketch of Mr. Thomas
- ↑ 1896 San Jose City Directory
- ↑ Charles M. Shortridge, "Sunshine, Fruit and Flowers: Santa Clara County and Its Resources, Historical, Descriptive, Statistical..." , 1896, San Jose Mercury News.