Early in the 20th century, unscrupulous Florida citrus growers began stamping “Indian River” on orange crates bound for northern cities — when their oranges were grown on the Gulf of Mexico.
By then the citrus groves along the Indian River were known to yield fruit of spectacular quality, and oranges grown here commanded higher prices in New York and Boston than those grown anywhere else. Hence the fraud. But a connoisseur could always tell the true specimen: his Indian River orange had a very thin peel, a sugary flavor, and was so full of juice that it rested in the palm like a stone.
The corruption of the Indian River name, however, became so common that consumers came to know River oranges not for the unique region where they were grown, but as a specific variety — like the Valencia or the Parson Brown.
Read the entire article in the March 2000 issue
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