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| Tomato Fields along 405 south of Milton, 2020 |
Seeing the tomato fields this week reminded me of some of the various historical mentions of tomato harvests. These days we only see a few fields planted locally, but from the 1940s to 1970s, it would have been hard to drive anywhere without seeing fields like this. Harvest typically began in August, and lasted through early October.
"The tomato slop conditions are creating a traffic hazard - slippery streets at practically ever intersection, which closely parallels the problem of ice in winter months." wrote Charles Williams of Turbot Avenue.
"The annual tomato harvest for the Chef Boiardi Division of American Home Foods in Milton has begun, and with it has come a harvest of complaints about tomato stop left on borough streets after falling from open trucks leaving company gates destined for the sanitary landfill"
The Daily Item, August 1969
The situation had been the same for years, but was particularly bad in 1969. I
"Who remembers Bull Run and the Susquehanna running RED with tomato skins from the cannery every Fall ?" "I used to pick tomatoes on the east side of the river for $.25 a Bushel."
"During the off season we would build huts with the straw bales that were stored in the cannery. We had a blast. I remember seeing the ladies hand peeling those thousands of tomatoes every day. I loved hanging out there."
Read More about the Lewisburg Cannery Here:
An advertisement in September 1943 offered work to 30 girls or women, to peel tomatoes. Daily, free, bus service would be provided from Laurel Park, Glen Iron, Laurelton, Hartelton, Millmont, and Mifflinburg. In 1944 Hilands advertised that he was looking for tomato growers on contract. "Will pay $27 cash field run per ton delivered." He offered two plant transplanters for the growers convenience.
The Daily Item reported in September of 1950 that 30 inmates at the Laurelton Center were engaged in picking tomatoes for Hilands Cannery. The girls averaged 10,000 to 12,000 baskets daily. "Working under a basket fee basis, the inmates are able to earn funds which go into their personal accounts."
There as a labor shortage in 1950. Both the Hilands Cannery in Lewisburg and the Land O'Sky Cannery in West Milton needed 50 additional women on the tomato peeling lines.
n 1978 American Home Foods was forced to reduce the number of acres of tomatoes being planted. The action resulted in approximately $2 million dollars in loss to area farmers.
The reduction was necessary because the Milton sewage plant was overloaded during the harvest.
In 1978, AHF contracted 176 farmers to plant 1,500 acres. The previous year AHF contracted 207 farmers to plant 3,500 acres.
Tomato Chowder Recipe
From Lewisburg's 1885 Housewife's Delight Cookbook
Slice a peck of green tomatoes, six green peppers, and four onions; strew a teacupt of salt over them. In the morning, turn off the water, put them in a kettle with vinegar enough to cover them, a teacup of sugar, one of grated horseradish, a tablespoonful of cloves, allspice, and cinnamon each. Boil until soft.
See more about the cookbook here:
The first Milton "Tomato Harvest Festival" was held in 1977
"today may be the last day ever that farmers haul their tomatoes to the Milton plant, because there is a strong change that American Home Foods will not buy locally grown tomatoes next year."
In 1967 the state passed a regulation that all migrant quarters must have heat when the temperature fell below 68 degrees. But the regulation was not enforced, until 1970 when a new deputy secretary of labor was appointed. American Home Foods appeared to the department for leniency, saying that production costs would force the Milton plant to import tomatoes from other states and areas. The company promised that all camps would have the required heating in time for the 1971 harvest.
In 1970, 20 of the 35 migrant camps involved in the AHF Harvest were fined for operating without a license. In the vast majority of those cases, the department had refused to grant licenses because the camps lacked heat.Camp operators and crews paid a total of $936 in fines. American Home Foods reimbursed all of the fines and court costs.
In 1962 two migrant camps had been constructed. The Mooresburg camp would house 225 migrant workers, and the Kepler camp would house 70. Fireproof buildings had been constructed with hot and cold showers for both sexes, plus a kitchen and mess hall. Another building housed the crew chief as well as utilities and laundry facilities.
Each August in Pittston, there's a tomato fight at the festival
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