Santa Clara Valley Growers Association

From Packing Houses of Santa Clara County
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Summary
Business

Cannery
Main Location

San Jose, CA
Active

1919-1921
Aliases

California Cooperative Canneries

The Santa Clara Valley Growers Association was a co-operative growers association, often referred to along with California Cooperative Canneries, which operated a cannery on their behalf. The cannery was constructed and opened in 1919[1]. The grower's association, like the cannery, was considered part of Armour and Company's attempts to break into the fruit business[2]. In 1921, the association had 300 members[3].

In 1918, the manager was R. W. Crary[4]. The April 2, 1919 San Jose Evening News includes an article about Vernon Campbell's conversation with growers where he explained the operation of the association. The Evening News was having none of that, asserting "this is the association which the Argmours have advanced $250,000 to build an immense cannery at the corner of Eighth and Taylor streets. In consideration for this favor the Armours are to have the cannery's output at the prices fixed by the California Packing Corporation... Campbell went on to say that the Armours recognized the co-operation idea had come to stay, and they were willing to work with the growers."

Locations

Location Years Address Details
San Jose 1919- Taylor Street between 8th and 10th

Details

March 6, 1920 Pacific Rural Press article on the success of the California Co-operative Canneries sign-up campaign.

August 28, 1919 San Jose Evening News: "Growers Probe California Canneries".

References

  1. California Canneries. June 1919 Western Canner and Packer. Construction of the plant was underway; the blurb highlighted that they didn't have a lot of capacity the first year, but that interested growers should contact the association.
  2. Cooperative Attorney Brings Complaint Against San Jose Cooperative Cannery. October 11, 1919 California Fruit News. The article hints that Vernon Campbell had been pushing cooperative growers' canneries for multiple years.
  3. Letter from Frank U. Reidy, Secretary of Santa Clara Valley Growers Association, in support of reconsidering the meat packer's consent decree. Packers Consent Decree: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. U. S. Senate, March 23 and April 21, 1922. "The fruit growers of this State have suffered extensively as a result of the Government destroying one of the best means of distribution of California's fruits."
  4. The Six New Canneries Started In San Jose In 1918: March 1919 Western Canner and Packer. The other canneries were Smith-Frank, Alba, Contadina, Salsina, and Shaw Family. There were a total of 31 canneries and 30 packing houses.