The Great Navel Orange Price Crash
A sudden, massive drop in orange prices has local dealers outraged and bargain hunters swarming the market.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The feature of the market along Western Avenue, which is most interesting to a majority of the dealers, is a slashing cut in the price of navel oranges. A carload of this fruit has arrived, and sales are made on the basis of $1.50 per case. To say that some of the dealers, who are not handling the stock, are indignant is putting it mildly. Somebody has smashed the market, for the oranges are quoted in San Francisco at $2.00 to $2.75 per case for good navels, which cannot be laid down here for less than $2.50 per case. Meantime, people are taking advantage of the opportunity and buying oranges cheap.
“To say that some of the dealers, who are not handling the stock, are indignant is putting it mildly.”
A century before the current debates over grocery monopolies and soaring food costs, Seattle was already navigating the wild, volatile supply chains of a booming port city. Then, as now, a 'smashed market' meant frustration for retailers but a momentary victory for shoppers looking for a deal.
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