“Blue Goose Tales: Navel Oranges” (0:08) is a silent film on the navel orange – its history in California, and how they are grown and harvested. It is especially interesting because it contains historic footage of Mexican-American agricultural workers, or possibly seasonal Mexican workers, at the 19:00 mark. The film dates to an era when much of Southern California was still citrus groves. Blue Goose was a citrus packing company established in Riverside in 1906. Blue Goose products were distributed by American Natural Foods, Inc. of Los Angeles. This film is likely to have been produced in the 1940s as part of their marketing efforts.

The film opens with California’s snow-capped mountains (0:40), and the frothy waves of the Pacific Ocean falling upon dark rocks (0:56). Spanish missionaries arrived to establish Catholic missions (1:32), planting orange trees in their gardens. Eventually, these missions became deserted ruins (2:35), but the orange trees still thrive (2:53). A sign marks the “PARENT WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE TREE” (3:38) a tree grown by Eliza Tibbets in Riverside, California, in 1873 and (3:48) an historical landmark. The ranch in Corona, California: the “BLUE GOOSE” stamp (4:29); flowering plant varieties on the ranch (5:00); people working under a grand tree (5:38). A tractor hauls a vintage disc harrow (6:13); two mechanics work on it (6:28). From 6:54, a man demonstrates how to graft buds onto rootstocks. He peels back the bark of a flowering green branch (7:08), wedges it into a cut in a root-stem (7:13). They are bound together (7:22) in a successful bud graft (7:35.) The young trees (7:39) will soon bear fruit (7:51). Barren trees are cut back and grafted with buds from prolific trees (8:49). Snows from the Sierra Nevada mountains (9:17) supply irrigation water (9:43). Footage of the Morris Dam across the San Gabriel River (9:57). What appears to be the Morris Reservoir (10:04). The Blue Goose Pumping Plant (10:27) with a watermill (10:13); an irrigation canal lined with palm trees (10:19); and the water pumping system (10:37). The land is plowed using horses (11:26) and machines (11:26). The workers prune back branches (11:57), spread fertilizer (12:06). Fumigation with a blower (12:21), and spraying individual trees (12:37). Because cyanide gas is very dangerous, trees are sealed in a canvas tent (12:59). Pumping pesticide into the enclosed space (13:35). In winter, the temperature drops. A man fills up an oil tank (15:10). Others take the oil in buckets (15:29), and pour them into orchard heaters (15:54) lined betwixt the trees (16:26). A man checks a thermometer, and the temperature of an orange (16:31). They lit the heaters (16:39). Smoke billows out (16:54). Nightscape shots (17:04): the trees but shadowy silhouettes against a darkening sky. Only the fires can be seen (17:18), until sun-up (18:19). Mexican fruit pickers are shown, a man, (19:04); a woman and child (19:07). A man cuts wood with an ax (19:14). From 19:22, more footage of the agricultural workers: children playing (19:40); one girl scowling (19:44); three women laughing, chatting (20:11); men smoking (20:33). A fruit picker on a ladder (22:02). Fruit emptied into crates (22:32). Another inspection (22:36). New shoes for a horse (22:56). Crates are loaded onto a wagon (23:39) as the horses feed (23:49). Oranges move to the packing house (23:57), where they are sorted in a culling machine (24:32); washed, dried, polished (25:05); then marked and graded for size (25:47). Women pack boxes (26:17). The produce is sealed (27:05), then transported in Santa Fe railroad refrigerated cars (27:57), pulled by a 2-10-2 steam locomotive #3937, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1927 (28:17). Fruit on display at a market (29:06). A crate of Sunkist Grapefruit can also be seen. A customer pays, then leaves with two bags full of navel oranges (29:19).

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