Oranges And Forgotten History

Orange trees are among the most popular fruit trees grown around the world. But the orange has a unique history that is intimately tied to human civilization and deserves to be remembered.

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

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Script by JCG

#history #thehistoryguy #oranges

[Metalbass]

Most enjoyable video I've watched all week! Thank you!

[johnrussell]

Sometime between 2003 to 2005 I went to Gran Canaria, Spain and up a mountain were there was a small village next to a small dam. Outside of a village shop were bags of Oranges, some normal sized in bags and small Oranges that were being sold at a much cheaper rate which we bought. Next to the dam were small gnarled orange trees and I thought that was where the Oranges probably came from. When we got back to the apartment we tried them. The skins were hard to remove but once you bit into them the intense orange flavour was amazing. I have never had Oranges like them before or since. We felt that they must be an ancient variety.

[constitutionalUSA]

Here in central Florida, when I was a kid, you could not escape the beautiful aroma of the blossoms, much to the despair of those allergic to it. Now foreign disease has left us with little to show our children and Grandchildren what once was a huge industry here and an aroma that brings back fond memories

[martinvandenbroek]

Fun fact; in the Dutch language there is no link between color and fruit. There are called "sinaasappel" which translates to "apples from china" from archaic Dutch.

[seatedliberty]

Ah the orange- a fruit most sublime. Tart and tasty, yet impossible to rhyme. Grown on both sides of the Prime Meridian, my favorite kind has to be the Floridian. Best when it's fresh but still acceptable frozen, it is the juice for breakfast most chosen. I'll end this now and so leave you be, as I'm sure you've heard enough of my ode to Vitamin C.

[GraciaBelievesthatJesusSaves]

Thank you for sharing these historic insights .👋♥️😊👏.

[cliffnre]

As an orange grower from Central CA...and a grower-member of Sunkist...and a history major from college, I have thoroughly enjoyed the episode. ...and my Valencia (and Late Navel) oranges do re-green in the Summer heat and sunlight, even though they have been maturing on the tree for over a year! My family grows Washington, Atwood and Fisher Navel, Late Navel, Cara Cara, Moro (Blood) and Sanguinelli (Blood), and Valencia oranges, as well as Lemons, Melogold Grapefruit and Star Ruby Grapefruit. Well researched and presented, as always! Thank you!

[laserbeam]

When my father was a young man he lived in south carolina. He would drive his truck to florida and buy a large load of oranges and bring them back home and sell them in near by small country towns. He would sell a large truck load within a few days.

[dscott]

My dad, and his father and three brothers were growers in Riverside in the early days. Dad grew for Sunkist for a time too. We lit smudge pots and ran wind machines in the winters to prevent the crops from freezing. The parent navel orange tree is still alive in Riverside. Thank you for this video, HG!

[vanbeuj]

An interesting aside: in Dutch, an orange is sinsapple, oranje is the colour orange. Strangely, orange juice is applesinsap.
It seems (to me) that apple just referred to fruit - same as pomme in french. Pomegranate (fruit granade), pomme de terre (fruit of the earth - potato) or aardapple in Dutch (aard being earth). So when the Iran's is referred to as ***apple it just means fruit from ***.
I recall there was an accounting of some crown jewels (I don't recall which). The auditors were confused, as a jewelled apple was listed. What they found was a jewelled orange.

[malcolmyoung]

THG delivers a history of the orange and two facts/stories connect with me straight away.. Dundee is where my family lived for a short time and we still live in the area today. Keillor (pronounced ‘KEELER’ by Dundee folks) was part of every day life and marmalade and ‘jams’ of all persuasions were sold by this iconic brand. Not sure if it’s still trading today I should maybe Google that?🤔 You also Mentioned Andalucía Spain’s most populace province. Now noted for growing Olives you cannot walk in any town or pueblo there without passing orange tees, on the footpaths providing shelter ( to some degree) from the sun’s rays. Andalucía is best pronounced ‘ANDA LOO THEE AH’. I spent 10.5 years of my life living and working there. My family is from Scotland and England but my heart is ‘Andalusian’. Returning to the UK 2 years ago was the hardest choice in my life and watching Spain disappear from the stern of a ship was emotional. But I can return. My family is in Scotland ..

[mikebell]

Riverside native here. The parent naval orange tree is still growing behind an iron fence next to a busy intersection and is a historic landmark.

[rodneycarey]

Later in life I learned receiving an orange during the holiday season say 100 years ago was a big deal. Growing and transporting fruit outside of the natural growing season was nearly impossible and only the wealthy could afford such a luxury. Now I know so much more and this small example of history leaves me humbled by how “spoiled” we are in our lives today. Excellent presentation, thank you Mr and Mrs History Guy.

[calendarpage]

Growing up in the 50's & 60's, my Christmas stocking always had nuts and an orange. It was the only time of year that we got them (tho we had the frozen juice sometimes). I did the same thing for my son, until a few years ago when he asked why did he always have an orange and some nuts in his stocking (he still gets a stocking, even as an adult), and I explained that they were special for Christmas. We discussed it a bit, and of course, his whole life he had eaten oranges and nuts all year; they're no big deal. While I'm grateful to be in a country where we can have pretty much any food we want, at any time, it is too bad that nothing is special any more. I still put an orange and nuts in his stocking, though. It's special to me.

[cab]

I model the Tropicana Orange Juice train in HO scale. While doing research on the train, I read an article from the 90s saying that while the average American drank 7.5 gallons of orange juice a year, the average New Yorker drank 12 gallons a year. This justified the regular train as well as two tanker ships devoted entirely to shipping orange juice to New York.

[plhebel]

A simple thing like an orange can be so easily taken for granted or the history forgotten or never learned, , , Thank you for this video of the wonderful orange.

[daneainsworth]

You have broadened my horizons more than any classrooms I have sat in. Thanks!

[kennethgarland]

In 1967-68, I was a student in France and there was a TV commercial for oranges that had the jingle "Avec une orange, tout s'arrange!" — "With an orange, everything goes all right!". 52 years later, I just cannot get that jingle out of my head!

[franknicholson]

Very interesting episode Thanks for this episode

[paulwatters]

I grew up in Riverside, CA in the '60s when the citrus industry was still an important part of the local economy (the school colors of the oldest high school in town are orange and green). We were taught about Eliza Tibbets in elementary school, and were taken on a field trip to see the "Parent Navel Orange Tree" (one of the trees from her original small grove) that is a national landmark. One of my strongest, and fondest, memories from childhood is the smell of orange blossoms mingled with the smog that was so prevalent in those days. Sadly, a "perfect storm" of increasing demand for housing, aging groves that were going to need to be replanted, and increasing water prices that made profitability difficult, spelled the end of nearly all the commercial citrus farming in the area. A "Citrus Heritage Park" was created so that our following generations can witness a recreation of our lost heritage...