Sam Monte

Sam Monte’s parents opened a distribution outlet for fruit containers in the 1920s that he later took over. The business became known as Monte Packaging and was located in Riverside, Michigan.

When I became part of [the fruit packaging industry] in 1960, a transition was happening. Ninety-eight percent of [the fruit] was still packed in wood, and two percent was packed in corrugated, plastic or foam containers. Today, it’s just the reverse. Two percent is packed in wood, and ninety-eight percent is packed in corrugated and plastics.

The two- or three-hundred miles along the west shore of Lake Michigan [are] very adaptable [for] growing fruit and vegetables. Because of its diversity, [ Michigan will] always be a prominent factor in agriculture [due to its] growing conditions and the closeness to the markets. We have Chicago , Milwaukee , Cleveland , St. Louis , and Cincinnati . There [are] a lot of people in those cities that are within a hundred or a few hundred miles of the market place.

When we were making bushel baskets, it was seasonal. [It was hard work], very labor intensive, making wood containers. At our plant in Shelby , we had eighty people working. I think it was even more than that, peeling wood off of a log to make quart berry baskets. The labor was in a better supply. Today, that just c[a]n’t be done. It’s just not available, and if it is, the price is prohibitive where the cost of the item would get so high, that it just doesn’t pay to for a bushel basket or a quart.

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WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY / FT. MIAMI HERITAGE SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN