In 1798, a Czech inventor and artist Alois Senefelder invented the process of lithography which was later used to print the original fruit labels. As a result of his experiments with calcium carbonate and greasy ink, he eventually devised a method of producing multiple copies of his artwork and writings.
In the 1880s, San Francisco was a center of commerical lithography and label art. German immigrant, Max Schmidt was first successful in printing using a process called zincography. This process replaced woodblock engraving. About that time the focus of lithography changed and started to grow in the field of product labeling instead of Gold Certificates in the Gold Rush.
Fruit labels became the mainstay and profit of fifteen major San Francisco printers who had cropped up. Litho salesmen were selling orange growers in California paper labels for their produce. By 1900 they were selling apple and pear growers in Washington the same paper labels for their produce.
This lithography for fruit labels was a slow and highly crafted profession. The printing process required using limestones/a heavy stone, careful alignment, specially treated paper, and meticulous attention to all details.
Read more about the magic of lithography tomorrow.
Comments