{"product_id":"vintage-1940s-foot-high-melons-crate-label-🍈-f-h-hogue-co-firebaugh-ca-yuma-az-risque-pinup","title":"Vintage 1940s Foot High Melons Crate Label 🍈 — F. H. Hogue Co., Firebaugh CA \u0026 Yuma AZ — Risqué Pinup","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🚚 Free US Shipping — ships within one business day.\u003c\/strong\u003e International shipping calculated at checkout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"margin: 15px 0;\"\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8yrgxZtxnwQ\" title=\"1940s Foot High Crate Label Video\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e🖼️ This original \u003cstrong\u003e1940s “Foot High” melon crate label\u003c\/strong\u003e is a striking example of mid‑century American commercial art, with a bold and risqué pin-up illustration \u003cstrong\u003eattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e to the artist \u003cstrong\u003eRique\u003c\/strong\u003e — no artist signature appears anywhere on the sheet, so that attribution rests on the trade record rather than on anything printed here. What the label does print is its trade block: \u003cstrong\u003ePACKED AND SHIPPED BY F. H. HOGUE CO.\u003c\/strong\u003e, with two office towns set either side of the firm's name — \u003cstrong\u003eFirebaugh, Calif.\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eYuma, Arizona\u003c\/strong\u003e — and the commodity in yellow caps at the right, \u003cstrong\u003eMELONS\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e🍈 This is a desert-melon label. Firebaugh sits on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and Yuma sits on the lower Colorado — two of the hottest melon deals in the American West, and a pairing that let one shipper run cantaloupes and honeydews from the Arizona desert early and the California west side later in the season. A firm with offices in both towns was following the melon season north, and the label had to work in both. Where most crate labels leaned on fruit imagery or regional symbols, \u003cem\u003eFoot High\u003c\/em\u003e went for a joke: the pin-up lies on her back with one leg kicked straight up past the brand line, so that her foot is level with the word \u003cstrong\u003eHIGH\u003c\/strong\u003e. That is the whole gag, and it is why the type is split with the figure filling the gap between FOOT and HIGH.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e🆕 This example survives in \u003cstrong\u003eNew Old Stock (NOS)\u003c\/strong\u003e condition, meaning it was never applied to a wooden crate. Because crate labels were intended to be disposable and discarded after use, unused examples like this are far less common than applied or damaged survivors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e📏 Measuring approximately \u003cstrong\u003e10 × 4 inches\u003c\/strong\u003e, this is the \u003cstrong\u003esmaller horizontal format\u003c\/strong\u003e produced for the Foot High brand. Larger versions of this design exist, but this size reflects how many labels were actually used in commercial distribution rather than decorative display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e🎨 Today, original crate labels are collected as examples of American advertising history, agricultural ephemera, and graphic design. This piece offers a tangible connection to 1940s visual culture and makes an excellent addition to a collection, archive, or framed display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🏷️ What Is Printed on This Label\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRead off the sheet itself, verbatim — this is the label's own printed text, not a description of it:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFOOT HIGH\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMELONS\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePRODUCE OF U.S.A.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePACKED AND SHIPPED BY\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFirebaugh  Calif.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eF. H. HOGUE CO.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYuma  Arizona\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA printer's imprint \u003cstrong\u003eis\u003c\/strong\u003e present in dark-red microtype in the bottom-left corner, but it will not resolve at the magnification available. Its tail scans as \u003cem\u003eS. F. CALIF.\u003c\/em\u003e — a San Francisco lithographer — and that is as far as the object can be pushed. No house name is claimed here, and any short code sitting beside such an imprint is a plate or form number, never a year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no printed date and no copyright line anywhere on this sheet, front or back. The 1940s dating rests on the trade record and the owner's notes, and nothing on the object bears on it either way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-vintage-rush-crate-label-az-ca-1940s-provocative-pinup-treasures-gifts\"\u003eVintage 1940s On Rush Brand Selected Vegetables Crate Label — F. H. Hogue Co., Yuma AZ and Firebaugh CA\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/large-antique-vintage-1930s-patriotic-white-house-crate-label-los-angeles-ca\"\u003eVintage White House Brand 🏛️ California Melons Crate Label — J-B Distributing Co., Los Angeles CA — Stecher-Traung Litho\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-vintage-1940s-levon-%F0%9F%A6%81-crate-label-los-banos-blythe-ca-beautiful\"\u003eVintage 1940s Levon Brand California Melons Crate Label — L. M. Azhderian, Los Banos-Blythe California\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54590025564526,"sku":"44493209010408","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1013\/8314\/3790\/files\/il_fullxfull.4896895224_q0co.jpg?v=1786989934","url":"https:\/\/vpjewelers.org\/products\/vintage-1940s-foot-high-melons-crate-label-%f0%9f%8d%88-f-h-hogue-co-firebaugh-ca-yuma-az-risque-pinup","provider":"VP Jewelers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}