Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Mayo Dade (March 12, 1925)

Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Mayo Dade (March 12, 1925)

Chase Correspondence (March 12, 1925)

Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941

Davenport (Fla.)

Citrus fruit industry--Florida

Florida Citrus Exchange

Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)

Babson Park (Fla.)

Arcadia (Fla.)

DeSoto County (Fla.)

An original letter of correspondence written by Sydney Octavius Chase to Mayo Dade. Dade worked with Chase & Company and was a respected professional in the Florida citrus industry. In the letter, Chase urges Dade to continue recruiting former Florida Citrus Exchange members to Chase & Company. Former members mentioned in the letter include the Babson Park Sub-Exchange, the Davenport Sub-Exchange, and other Exchange members in DeSoto County. With an increased membership in the company, Chase hoped that including more growers would help balance out the less productive crops in the previous growing season. The letter also shares some of the doubts and distrust Chase & Company felt toward the Florida Citrus Exchange, a state organization comprised of a large number of Florida citrus growers. While members who trusted the Exchange praised the organization as a united group of growers that promoted better distribution and marketing of their citrus products, growers such as Chase & Company were hesitant to hand over all of their power to a larger organization with poor marketing strategies.

Chase & Company was established 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.

Chase, Sydney Octavius

Original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Mayo Dade, March 12, 1925: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 7, folder 14.10A, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1925-03-12

Digital reproduction of original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Mayo Dade, March 12, 1925.

Chase Collection (MS 14), box 7, folder 14.10A, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Florida Citrus Exchange Collection , Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

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

application/pdf

1,807 KB

1 page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead

eng

Text

Jacksonville, Florida

Arcadia, Florida

Babson Park, Florida

Davenport, Florida

30.3167, -81.6500

27.216014, -81.858544

27.832017, -81.522431

28.161308, -81.601653

1925-03-11/1925-03-12

Donation

History Teacher

Economics Teacher

Geography Teacher

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.

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.

Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Marra, Katherine

University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections

"The History of Seald-Sweet." Seald Sweet International. http://www.sealdsweet.com/welcome/our-history.php.

Warner, S.C. "Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida." Florida State Horticultural Society vol. 36 (1923): 198-200.

"Mayo Dade Offers Helpful Aid on Fruit Picking." Florida Clearing House News, August 25, 1930.

Hopkins, James T. Fifty Years of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Exchange: 1909-1959. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press: 1960.

"Sydney Chase Sr. (1860-1941)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=600.

"The History of Seald-Sweet"

"Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida"

"Mayo Dade Offers Helpful Aid on Fruit Picking"

"Sydney Chase Sr. (1860-1941)"

CHASE & CO.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

March 12, 1925.

Mr. Mayo Dade,
Arcadia, Fla.

Dear Sir:

This will acknowledge your letter of the 11th reporting on your interview with Mr. Fairchilds at Babson Park. I would follow up this interview in the next two or three weeks so that in event the Babson Park Sub-Exchange contemplates withdrawing from the Florida Citrus Exchange you can assist them in so doing prior to the withdrawal date which is covered by their contract with the head office.
I understand from Mr. Rinck, who passed thru Davenport yesterday, that the sign on the Davenport Sub-Exchange packing house was being changed. The circular add on this sign which reads "Affiliated with the Florida Citrus Exchange" was being painted out; the balance of the sign remaining as it was originally painted. It may be that the Davenport Sub-Exchange is going to repaint the circular sign, using more illuminating letters or paint, and the fact that it is now being painted out may not indicate that they contemplate withdrawing from the main office. I am just passing this along as information.
If there are any Exchange members in DeSoto County that you know of, who are dissatisfied, or disappointed with results this season get busy with them, and see if we can't swing them our way. We certainly want to increase the volume of business for the Arcadia house.
I am mighty glad that the wind up on the Williams oranges this season is going to result in satisfactory prices.

Yours very truly,

SOC:HMR

1 page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead