2015 Summer Harvest Forever Stamps

Value: 78¢ – 1-ounce first-class letter rate
Issue Date: July 11, 2015 (California State Fair, Cal Expo)
First Day City: Sacramento, CA
Printed by: Ashton Potter
Method: Offset printing, booklets of 20

By the late 19th century, America’s produce industry had become a booming interstate business. Competition among growers intensified, and eye-catching advertising became essential. Producers hired skilled lithographers to create vibrant crate labels—bright yellow lemons, deep red tomatoes, and other vivid images designed to grab attention and build brand loyalty.

Early labels were crafted through traditional stone lithography: artists hand-etched designs into limestone, applied ink, and pressed the images onto heavy paper. In the 20th century, advances in steel and photo-offset lithography streamlined production and reduced costs. By the 1940s, crate label marketing was at its peak, with some lithography firms employing hundreds of artists. But by the 1950s, pre-printed cardboard boxes replaced wooden shipping crates, rendering the colorful labels obsolete.

Today, many of these vintage crate labels survive in private collections and antique shops, offering a vivid timeline of agricultural marketing over more than 75 years. Often referred to as “agro-lithography,” these works provide a fascinating window into the evolution of American advertising and design.

The artwork for these stamps draws inspiration from vintage shipping crate labels, seed packets, and catalogs. Each design in the set was created and illustrated by Michael Doret, paying homage to a rich era of agricultural and graphic arts history.