Summertime is fruit picking season in states across America. Many fruit farms offer pick-your-own produce for the public to glean from ripened fields, bushes, and trees. The option to pick helps people learn how crops grow, and it is a great way to enjoy the outdoors while picking earth’s bounty to bring home and consume.
Pick-your-own fruit farming began as a way for farmers to earn extra income by charging suburban dwellers for access to pick their fields after the main harvest was completed. The main fruit crop was commonly harvested with hand tools (and is largely still done that way) to avoid damaging its delicate skin. Manual harvesting is typically done by hired harvesters using harvesting tools to grab and gather the fruit. Today, early examples of these tools are considered collectible.
FRUIT-GRABBING TOOLS
Common fruit-grabbing tools include pruning shears and a fruit picker. The use of specialized scissors for cutting plants dates back to the ancient past. A type of pruning shears called anvil pruners was invented in 1923 by Walther Schröder of Germany. Useful for cutting thick branches to safely remove fruit, anvil pruners have only one blade that closes onto a flat surface. They have short handles and can easily be operated using one hand.
Picking orchard fruit from tall bushes and trees required a ladder, which was cumbersome to move. During the 1800s, several devices were invented for reaching the topmost branches to pick fruit while standing on the ground. In 1881, Pennsylvanian businessman Henry M. Crider created an adjustable fruit-picker. The tool included a collection bag with metal fingers to grab the fruit and safely drop it into the bag to prevent damage. The bag could be attached to a long stick or pole to reach the highest branches. Other common early fruit-picker tools have a wire basket with metal fingers for grabbing and catching the fruit.
Some early fruit-grabbing tools are factory-made and commonly include the maker, which can help determine their age and value. Prepare to spend anywhere from $15 to $150 for an early fruit-grabbing tool, depending on condition, age, and maker.
FRUIT-GATHERING TOOLS
Common fruit-gathering tools are picker bags (also called aprons), buckets (also called baskets), scoops, and rakes. Early picker bags and buckets are usually made of galvanized metal or canvas with a wire-reinforced opening. Worn by harvesters picking fruit by hand, they often include an adjustable harness or straps for easy wearing. Fruit-gathering scoops and rakes are usually made of wood or metal and have teeth on the front edge for harvesting berries.
Fruit-gathering tools have been used for centuries by harvesters. In 1908, inventors Ernest E. Bryan and Warren E. Taylor patented a fruit picker’s bucket. Oblong in shape, it included adjustable straps for wearing it. It also included a hinged opening on the bottom, secured closed by a catch fastener, for emptying the bucket from the bottom. This bottom opening avoided bruising the fruit, unlike traditional buckets that needed to be emptied by tipping them over to dump out the fruit. In 1911, Thomas J. Jackson of Colorado patented a fruit-gathering bag. Like Bryan and Taylor’s invention, it included adjustable straps for wearing and an opening on the bottom, secured closed by a hook.
During the 1850s, handpicking cranberries was gradually replaced by the use of wooden scoops. In 1887, Massachusetts resident Daniel Lumbert invented a wooden scoop called “Snap Scoop” for picking cranberries off of young vines without damaging the vines. It worked by threading the teeth through the vines and closing the hinged lid to gather the berries. Designed after the cranberry scoop, a hand-held metal rake for picking blueberries was invented by Abijah Tabbutt of Maine in 1883.
Early fruit-gathering tools sometimes contain the maker’s name and location, which, with some research, can help indicate a particular timeframe. Expect to pay somewhere between $25 to several hundred dollars for an early fruit-gathering tool, depending on condition, age, and maker. However, some rare examples have sold for more than one thousand dollars.
UNWAVERING REMINDER
Although these tools could be used for their intended purpose, most are collected today for display. Wire fruit pickers are used as unique cage lampshades, picker buckets are used as quirky flower baskets, and cranberry scoops are used as distinctive wall art. No matter how it’s repurposed, the lingering scent of the fruits it was once used for will be an unwavering reminder of its past life.
Karen Weiss is a freelance writer and enjoys decorating her home with vintage finds from her many collections. She also has an Etsy shop called SimplePatinaFinds.
WorthPoint—Discover. Value. Preserve.
The post Let’s Go Fruit Picking! appeared first on WorthPoint.