Once considered throwaway advertising, colorful citrus labels have become collectible pieces of Florida folk art, displayed by museums and universities.
A Tampa librarian wants to save Floridaâs vanishing citrus labels â and her family history
Years ago, the faces of her dad and aunts were pasted on citrus crates and shipped around the country. Now sheâs on the hunt for the vintage labels.
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University of Tampa librarian Elizabeth Lee Barron, 64, displays some of the citrus labels she has collected over the years at her home on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Tampa. The collection is the fruit of Lee Barron s research, which has turned up scores of her family s branding labels that were pasted on shipping boxes to identify where the citrus was grown, who packed it and who shipped it. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]