One of the things that impressed me about Fruit Growers Supply Company was they valued their employees and went the extra mile in taking care of them. What the company had learned early one, was how costly labor turn over could be. By providing the employees a bit higher wage, extra amenities, paid off in the long run, with a loyal and stable workforce.
The company’s logging camps were exceptional, besides the living conditions, even provided recreational activities. In 1922, motion pictures were offered at Camps B and C. In 1923, at Camp C a 500-seat outdoor arena was the site of professional boxing and wrestling matches. On June 23, 1923 at the inaugural wrestling match pitted Susanville wrestler Bill Mohler against Paul Kinney of Omaha, Nebraska.
This six foot diameter ponderosa pine log entering the Fruit Growers’ Susanville mill, 1943—FGS Co.
Whenever an exceptional logging and/or mill scene Fruit Growers made sure the event was captured on film. In turn, in many instances it would appear in the company’s annual report. In a sense it was part promotional and educational tool at the same time. Fruit Growers’ audience was the citrus growers who owned the co-operative and invested in the mills and timberland to provide them an adequate supply of wooden boxes at a reasonable to price to ship their fruit. The majority of the owners had little knowledge of the sawmill industry that they were heavily invested in.
Lunch time at Dow Butte, August 21, 1953. Courtesy of Hank Martinez
What Fruit Growers did was not unique. Many lumber companies did the same to provide illustration to their investors where their money was being spent.
Craveneer moving through the lamination process—-Hank Martinez
When it was announced that Fruit Grower’s Westwood facility would become its Craveneer plant it came as a great relief to the employees there that the operations would continue. It was after all a $200,000 investment.
Machinery installation was expected to take four to six months and production to start by July 1954. Unexpected problems caused delays, however, and it was not until November that the first shipments of Craveneer were sent. It is interesting Fruit Growers box factories at Hilt and Westwood continued to operate . In addition, Fruit Growers even contracted for a supply of cardboard cartons. The growers now had their choice—wood, cardboard or Craveneer.
Cutting machine clipping the finished Craveneer into sheets—-Hank Martinez
In the meantime, Fruit Growers had not ruled out a Burney plant. In early 1955 they began to budget a new plant there that would cost $9,450,000. To make the Burney plant flexible besides a Craveneer plant, it would also have a plywood plant.
Changes on the horizon were swift. In the summer of 1955, it was announced by Sunkist that the cardboard box, was the container of choice. Thus, no longer a need for wooden boxes or Craveneer. On June 18, 1955 the Westwood box factory closed. On August 25, 1955 the Craveneer plant was closed and liquidated, which the California Barrel Company of Arcata purchased the Craveneer machinery. It should be noted that the box factory at Hilt remained in operation to manufacture picking boxes.
Steaming logs in preparation for peeling into Craveneer—-Hank Martinez
The Chicago Mill & Lumber Company developed the Craveneer process during World War II in their Tallulah, Louisiana laboratory. Experimenting with Mississippi delta oaks, which had no commercial value, Chicago Mill & Lumber Company discovered an adhesive that would glue 42 pound Kraft paper to the green veneer wood with a continuous roller process. One advantage of the process was the small amount of shrinkage when it dried. Conventional rotary cut veneer shrank up to 10 percent; Craveneer shrank only 1 1/2 percent. The Kraft paper also hid defects such as knots. And the exterior could be treated with a wax emulsion that acted as a mold inhibitor, a real plus in a citrus packinghouse.
The Globe DeBarker preparing logs for peeling into Craveneer—-Hank Martinez
In 1953, Fruit Growers Supply Company purchased the necessary machinery from Chicago Mill & Lumber Company and became the sole licensed manufacturer of Craveneer for the West Coast.
The big question facing Fruit Growers was where to install the plant—convert the box factory at Hilt or build a new sawmill and Craveneer plant at Burney? On November 9, 1953 it was decided to convert the veneer plant at Westwood into a Craveneer plant, yet Burney was still a future option.
A craveneer box, which resembles the standard wooden box—-FGSCo.
For whatever reasons the California citrus growers did embrace the cardboard of the late 1940s, like vegetable produce growers did. Fruit Growers were in quandary with diminishing pine reserves to manufacture the citrus grower’s demand for wooden boxes.
Fruit Growers came across a patented material known as Craveneer. It was a variation of veneer—wherein a log is peeled to make a thin slice of wood, instead of being sawn into a board. On the surface Craveneer appeared to make the ideal container. It utilized white fir, of which Fruit Growers had an abundant supply. It cost less to manufacture than the wooden box, yet it was more durable than the cardboard carton.
In 1952, Fruit Growers decided to experiment with the Craveneer and more about in the future.
Fruit Growers Box Factory, Susanville, 1922–Ed Standard
An interesting component in Fruit Growers’ box factories. This press imprinted box shook with the name of Sunkist or the names California Fruit Growers Exchange, the co-operative marketing company of the citrus growers.
Dynamiting the Westwood millpond, January 27, 1949. Courtesy of Fruit Growers Supply Company
It has been some time since this region has experienced prolonged sub zero temperatures, which is fine with me. When it does get that cold things happen. In January 1949, the temperatures plummeted to nearly thirty degrees below zero at Westwood. The millpond froze. When the Red River Lumber Company designed the facility, they placed piping from the powerhouse that forced steam air directly into the millpond near the sawmill. This system was no match for Mother Nature. To keep the mill operating it was necessary to use dynamite to blast loose the logs in the millpond. Continue reading How Cold?→
Fruit Growers Locomotive No. 105 at Halls Flat, 1946.
In 1940, with the Red River Lumber Company making plans to log north of Westwood in the Poison Lake and Blacks Mountain region further discussions were held as to construct a railroad line to Burney to harvest their extensive Burney Tract that contained two billion board feet of merchantable timber. An initial railroad survey was conducted with a starting point at Poison Lake. The major barrier was that of Hat Creek Rim. It was determined to follow the rim and slowly make a descent at Cassel and then onward to Burney. It was estimated it would cost one million dollars to construct the line. Fletcher Walker, the resident manager of Westwood was eager to build and wrote, “We would increase the Veneer Plant output and get good logs to operate it and this alone would more than pay for the cost to build the railroad.” However, no one else in the Red River family shared Fletcher’s railroad proposal. In 1941, Red River made the decision to sale Westwood and the Burney Tract.
In 1944, after intense negotiations, Fruit Growers Supply Company purchased Westwood and the Burney Tract. They, too, contemplated to build a railroad line similar to the one proposed by Red River. As late as 1951, Fruit Growers still considered the option of a railroad to Burney. Yet, changes were occurring rapidly with the conversion to cardboard boxes, that forced Fruit Growers to reconsider its future plans, as the needed for wooden boxes to ship citrus would eventually be eliminated.
This is to inform any one interested if you want to obtain a copy of the only complete history of the entire Northern California logging operations of the Fruit Growers Supply, here is your last chance offer. I suggest you do not procrastinate. My inventory is very low with less than thirty copies, and once its gone, its gone. To learn more about the book and to order see books.
Fruit Growers No. 2 was purchased new from Baldwin in 1921. It remained in operation throughout the existence of railroad logging operations on the Lassen Operation until 1952. It was scrapped in 1953.
It should be noted when Fruit Growers built its mill in Susanville in 1919/20, they referred it to simply as the Lassen Operation. In 1944, when Fruit Growers purchased nearby Westwood from the Red River Lumber Company, they changed the name of Lassen to the Susanville Operation.
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