The Apple Auction Wars
New York auctioneers hit back at claims that they 'slaughtered' the prices of Washington-grown apples.
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 telegram published in the Northwestern papers purporting to have been signed by Steinhardt Kelly regarding a sale of a car of Grimes Golden apples at public auction in New York City on Monday, September 25th, in which they attack the auction system of selling and state that the fruit in this car was 'slaughtered,' is grossly false and libelous. We publish this statement so you will know the truth. The fruit referred to in the telegram was dead, green and immature, and would never have ripened. It had no color characteristic of the variety and should not have been shipped. We want the auction system judged on its merits, not on false statements.
“We want the auction system judged on its merits, not on false statements.”
This reflects the early industrial era of Washington’s apple industry, where regional growers struggled for leverage against distant East Coast middlemen. The tension between direct-to-consumer sales and market intermediaries remains a core debate for agricultural economies in the Pacific Northwest today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.