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Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association Records, 1917-1981

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association
Title
Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association Records
Dates
1917-1981 (inclusive)
Quantity
89 Linear feet of shelf space, (163 Boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 848 (collection)
Summary
The Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association (YVGSA) Records consist of the organization's records from 1917 through the 1970s. In addition, the collection contains materials from other agricultural trade associations, notably the Washington-Oregon Pear Canning Association,the International Apple Association, and the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association promotes the production, transport, and sale of fruit from the Yakima Valley, in particular apples and other orchard fruit. Founded in 1917, as the Yakima Valley Traffic and Credit Association, the trade association is composed of growers and distributors. According to its 1917 articles of incorporation, the Association was formed “to assist its members in transacting their business of selling fruit or other farm products.” In 1947, the organization dropped “Credit Association” from its title to become the Yakima Valley Traffic Association before changing to its current name in 1964. The organization coordinated the storage and shipment of fruit, distributed information about advances in agriculture and storage, lobbied for policies beneficial to its membership, gathered statistics on the production and transport of fruit from the Yakima Valley, and led marketing efforts. As of the writing of this guide in 2016, the organization is still active. According to its current web page:

“YVGSA specializes in providing extensive data on the movement, holdings, and marketing of Washington State tree fruit commodities. In addition, YVGSA represents its members in the area of regulatory and legislative affairs on the local, state, and federal levels.” (Accessed 10/6/2016)

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Content Description

The Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association (YVGSA) Records consist of the organization's records from 1917 through the 1970s. In addition, the collection contains materials from other agricultural trade associations, notably the Washington-Oregon Pear Canning Association,the International Apple Association, and the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association.

Series 1: Administrative files, 1917-1974. This series consists of files related largely to the shipping of produce. This includes documents on shipping rates and regulations, pricing, legislation, and the promotion of fruit. The organization's meeting minutes and voluminous statistical reports may be found in Series 2 and 6 respectively.

Subseries 1: Subject files, 1917-1974. This subseries makes up the largest portion of the collection and consists of subject files on shipping, legislation and regulation impacting the shipment of produce, exporting produce, wage and labor laws, apple growing, and miscellaneous correspondence and reports. The organization's dockets on regulations decided by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) are in subseries 3 of this series. Much of the organization's files related to the production of fruit during World War II and the subsequent rebuilding is in this subseries.

Subseries 2: Pricing, 1940-1952. This subseries consists of files about price controls for apples and pears during World War II. Most of the files include communications from the Office of Price Administration.

Subseries 3: Tariffs, shipping, and Interstate Commerce Commission documents, 1927-1972. This subseries consists of dockets on decisions made by the Interstate Commerce Commission, files on tariffs, and other regulations impacting the shipment of fruit. These dockets contain documents submitted by the YVGSA to the ICC, relevant copies of published ICC decisions, documents gathered to support the YVGSA's positions, and the organization's communications regarding the cases to which the dockets refer. More information about the YVGSA's stances on regulations may be found in series 1, subseries 1 in files on cold storage, export regulations, transport, and legislative files organized by year and Federal agency.

Subseries 4: Committees, 1933-1972. This subseries consists of files for committees governed by the Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association. Committee files in this subseries deal with shipping, production, spraying, taxes, and labor.

Subseries 5: Untitled subject files, 1939-1945. This subseries consists of a series of subject files arranged by letter of the alphabet.

Subseries 6: National Apple Week, 1926-1948. This subseries consists of files on the organization and promotion of National Apple Week. Most of these files concern the 1947 National Apple Week.

Series 2: Meeting minutes, 1917-1949. This series consists of the Association's meeting minutes and annual reports, with the exception of annual reports printed after 1944.

Series 3: Labor, 1938-1972. This series consists of the Association's files on labor relations relating to the growing and storage of produce in the Yakima Valley. This series includes information on wages, negotiations, and agreements between Yakima Valley employers and their employees. It also contains a handful of files of communications between the Tree Fruits Labor Committee, which represented growers and warehousers.

Series 4: Financial statements, 1919-1947. This series consists of annual reports of revenues and expenditures for the YVGSA in addition to more detailed information including lab reports and balances of YVGSA members.

Series 5: Marketing, 1947-1948. This series consists of files and photographs from a marketing campaign promoting Yakima Valley apples. Files in this series is organized by the cities in which marketing meetings took place and contain meeting transcripts, photographs of meetings, and documents on marketing strategies. One strategy, called Mechanized Sales, describes how Washington state organizations including the YVGSA prioritized the transport of specific varieties of apples at certain times of year to prevent the sale of over ripe apples. The campaigns revolved around the sale of "delicious" Washington apples and eating an apple a day.

Series 6: Statistics and reports, 1919-1981. This series consists of reports on the production and shipment of fruit from the Yakima Valley and other parts of the Pacific Northwest. This includes bulletins and shipping reports from both the Yakima Valley Growers and Shipping Association (YVHSA) and the Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association and a detailed set of reports by United Marketers detailing the movement of fruit from the Yakima Valley broken down by destination.

Subseries 1: Bulletins and shipping reports, 1919-1981. This subseries consists of bulletins and shipping reports printed by the YVGSA. These bulletins and reports tend to be published weekly and consist of statistical information about produce shipped from a region. The bulletins may also contain brief articles.

Subseries 2: Miscellaneous statistics, 1924-1954. This subseries consists of reports on the production of produce published by various groups. The produce covered in these reports include pears, apples, and cherries.

Subseries 3: Truck destination surveys, 1953-1968. This subseries consists of shipping surveys published by the YVGSA detailing the amount of apples transported to from the Yakima Valley to each state. Some years contain a breakdown of shipments to different states by grower.

Subseries 4: United Marketers Reports, 1939-1975. This subseries consists of detailed reports on the sale, shipping, and production of Yakima Valley apple and pear growers. The bulk of this series consists of daily sales reports.

Series 7: Other organizations, 1933-1976. This series consists of files of documents published by other organizations systematically collected by the YVGSA. This series is organized according to organizations represented.

Subseries 1: Washington-Oregon Canning Pear Association, 1953-1967. This subseries consists of tonnage records, correspondence, and contracts with canning companies.

Subseries 2: International Apple Association, 1938-1976. This subseries consists of bulletins, correspondence, and reference books.

Subseries 3: Northwest Cherry Bureau, 1947-1949. This subseries contains annual reports for the Northwest Cherry Bureau.

Subseries 4: Northwest Horticultural Council, 1946-1974. This subseries contains bulletins and correspondence between the Northwest Horticultural Council and the YVGSA.

Subseries 5: United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, 1937-1974. This subseries consists of correspondence and bulletins for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association.

Subseries 6: Wenatchee Valley Traffic Association, 1933-1974. This subseries consists of correspondence, bulletins, and reports from the Wentachee Valley Traffic Association.

Subseries 7: Washington State Apple Commission, 1936-1974. This subseries contains correspondence and bulletins by the Commission about the marketing and shipping of apples, including a publication called The Story of Washington Apples.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association Records, 1917-1981 (Cage 848)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The documents in this collection are arranged in seven series, with several broken into subseries.

Acquisition Information

The Yakima Valley Growers-Shippers Association Records were donated to the Washington State University Libraries by F. W. Shields in 1978 (MS 1978-30).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Cody Leander, Calen Rau, Megan Bridge, Allison Bremmeyer, and Steven Bingo in 2016. Amanda Van Lanen initially inventoried the collection in 2011.

Related Materials

Yakima Valley Traffic and Credit Association National Apple Week Scrapbook, 1927 (Cage 766)

Washington-Oregon Canning Pear Association Records, 1953-1974 (Cage 353)

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Steven Bingo
2025

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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