Letter from Brockelman Brothers, Inc. to Joshua Coffin Chase (January 24, 1928)

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Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Brockelman Brothers, Inc. to Joshua Coffin Chase (January 24, 1928)

Alternative Title

Chase Correspondence (January 24, 1928)

Subject

Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Citrus--Florida
Windermere (Fla.)
Oranges--Florida
Orange industry--Florida

Description

An original letter of correspondence between Joshua Coffin Chase and Brockelman Brothers, Inc. Topics discussed in the letter include the publication of the story of Chase & Company's orange groves at Isleworth Grove, aerial photographs of the Chase property, and the meaning of the term "pine-apple orange." According to the letter, the pineapple orange produces excellent quality juice, but is extremely susceptible to freezes, citrus blight, and preharvest fruit drop.

Chase & Company was established by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase in 1884. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century. By 1886, the Chase brothers purchased several citrus groves to expand their business, including Isleworth Grove in Windermere, Florida. Isleworth Grove covered a total of 1,300 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes. Between 1894 and 1895, Central Florida was hit by several freezes and most of the citrus crop was destroyed. Chase & Company did not grow citrus crops again until 1904 when Joshua came back from an extended stay in California. Between 1894 and 1900, different types of pesticide equipment was created, including equipment driven by steam, machines, and horses.Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965. The Isleworth property stayed in the Chase family until 1984 when Franklin Chase, the son of Sydney Chase, sold the property to famed golfer Arnold Palmer.

Creator

Brockelman Brothers, Inc.

Source

Original letter from Brockelman Brothers, Inc. to Joshua Coffin Chase, January 24, 1928: box 49, folder 20.84, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Date Created

1928-01-24

Is Part Of

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 49, folder 20.84, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Isleworth Collection, Citrus Collection, Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Is Referenced By

Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.

Format

image/jpg

Extent

164 KB

Medium

1-page typewritten letter on Brockelman Brothers, Inc. letterhead

Language

eng

Type

Text

Coverage

Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Chase & Company Office, Orlando, Florida
Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher
Economics Teacher

Provenance

Entire Chase Collection is comprised of four separate accessions from various donors, including Cecilia Johnson, the granddaughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and the children of Randall Chase.

Rights Holder

The displayed collection item is housed at Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida to display this item for educational purposes only.

Contributing Project

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Curator

Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

Source Repository

External Reference

Warner, S.C. "Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida." Florida State Horticultural Society vol. 36 (1923): 198-200.
Hopkins, James T. Fifty Years of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Exchange: 1909-1959. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press: 1960.
"Joshua Coffin Chase (1858-1948)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=960.

Transcript

Chase Correspondence, Box 49, folder 20.84

FITCHBURG CLINTON LEOMINSTER GARDNER NASHUA LOWELL

MARKETS STORES
BROCKELMAN BROS, Inc.
FITCHBURG, MASS

June 24, 1928



Mr. J.C. Chase,
c/o The Chase Investment Co.,
Orlando, Florida.

Dear Sir:

We thank you very much for your letter of January 20, which gives us the story of your Orange groves and Oranges. We will write up a good story about these and put it in the next issue of our Broadcaster, a small magazine that we send out to 15M R.F.D. Box Holders, in the interest of our twelve stores. We are enclosing a copy of our Broadcaster herewith.

We note that you are going to have some aerial pictures of your property in the near future. When you get some of these, if you could send us a print from a negative (not just a print run off in a printing press), we will be very glad to have a cut made and print it in the Broadcaster, together with the story of the groves.

We are quite interested to know the exact meaning of the term “Pineapple Orange”: i.e., what quality or flavor, juiciness, size, etc., is so designated.

Yours very truly,
BROCKELMAN BROS. INC.

Enc.
JHG/T

Document Item Type Metadata

Original Format

1-page typewritten letter on Brockelman Brothers, Inc. letterhead

Citation

Brockelman Brothers, Inc., “Letter from Brockelman Brothers, Inc. to Joshua Coffin Chase (January 24, 1928),” RICHES, accessed March 28, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2696.

Locations

Categories