In 2022, it may seem hard to fathom how wooden boxes were vital to the nation’s commerce. There was an era when the nation’s fruit and vegetables were shipped by the humble wooden box.  The demand for wooden boxes, played an important role in the lumber industry. For instance, any major sawmill also had a box factory on the premises. What they manufactured was box shook—the wooden slats to make the box. The shook was shipped to fruit and vegetable growers packinghouses were the actual box was assembled.

While Red River Lumber Company’s Westwood mill was known for its massive scale, many may not be aware that its box factory manufactured 16 million boxes a year. As the nation grew, so did the need for wooden boxes. Fruit Growers Supply Company provides an interesting glimpse into the demand. In 1907 their growers needed 6 million boxes annually, by 1917 18 million and in 1941 40 million boxes. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, it was the need for wooden boxes that kept many sawmills in operation. In fact, during that era, nearly half of all the lumber produced went to making wooden boxes.

While cardboard boxes had been around since the early 1900s, they were never deemed practical to the growers. Some of the biggest complaints were bruising and mold of the produce. It was not until after World War II, with improvements to the cardboard that the conversion from wood to the former began. On a side note, grocers liked the cardboard box. They were half the size of a wooden box, and they could used to put a shopper’s bagged goods in to take home.

Tim

There was a time that small towns thrived throughout the region and elsewhere.  The automobile had a profound impact on these communities, but that is another story.  Spoonville  was a small town located several miles northeast of Janesville on the way to Standish. Its development was different than most, while many had their origins as a stage stop, that was not the case with Spoonville. Its origins began with the creation of the Missouri Bend School, so named because many of the original settlers there came from Missouri.

In 1897, William E. Spoon established the Honey Lake Creamery near the Missouri Bend School. Spoon would eventually establish a general store and, for a time, it was operated by the  Christie Brothers. Thus the nucleus of a town was formed. In 1903, Robert Dunn built the 20-room Spoonville Hotel. On May 29, 1905, Spoon sold his remaining interests there to Ebenezer Cooley Brown, for an undisclosed amount. Though a small town, with less than thirty inhabitants, it was the “corporate” headquarters of the Lassen Mill & Lumber Company, Baxter Creek Irrigation Company and the Pacific Coast Bear Club. Members of the Pacific Coast Bear Club included such dignitaries as President Theodore Roosevelt and Nevada Governor John Sparks.

In 1913, the town’s name was changed to Edgemont, as part of a real estate promotion scheme. After all, with the arrival of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad in the Honey Lake Valley, realtors thought towns that ended in “ville” conceived  the impression of some kind of “hick” outpost. M.E. “Mul” Mulroney, a native of Spoonville, recalled the town was already in decline before the name change which did nothing to correct the situation. In addition, Mul stated that in the early 1920s the second story of the Dunn Hotel was removed and the building was converted into a dance hall. He further stated it was torn down sometime in the 1930s.

Today, not much is left except for the abandoned two-story residence of E.C. Brown and the defunct Missouri Bend School.

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