APPLES IN HEAD TIDE · PANEL IV
Status note: The Apples in Head Tide exhibit's physical installation at the Head Tide Store, 45 Head Tide Road, Alna, is in preparation. Opening date to be announced — these pages are live in advance of the physical exhibit and will remain as its permanent online companion.
Letters from the Commission Merchants
Head Tide's apples reached city markets through commission merchants — firms that sold produce on consignment and took a percentage. The phrase appears on the letterheads shown here. The Jewett Store records document these relationships across four decades of the apple trade.
[IMAGE: Eggs & Apples ledger, 1897–1907] Caption: Eggs & Apples ledger, 1897–1907. Brought to the collection by Joan Gregoire, and tracks barrels of Baldwins, Kings, Tolman Sweets, and "Fancy Apples" shipped to firms in Boston — alongside regular cases of eggs to Edwin Shumway at South Market Street.
The earliest evidence is a handwritten ledger labeled "Eggs & Apples" covering 1898 to 1907, brought to us by Joan Gregoire. An entry dated 1897 records barrels of Baldwins, Kings, Tolman Sweets, and "Fancy Apples" shipped to Roberts in Boston — likely the same firm of Patch & Roberts whose 1908 letter survives in the collection. The ledger also tracks regular cases of eggs shipped to Edwin Shumway at South Market Street in Boston, a reminder that the store was a multi-commodity shipping hub, not just a handler of apples.
[The "Roberts" connection to Patch & Roberts is our inference based on the shared surname and Boston location; we have not confirmed they are the same firm.]
In November 1908, A. Warren Patch of Patch & Roberts in Boston wrote to J. A. Jewett urging him to ship his Tallman Sweets and Spies while the market was strong. Fancy apples "of all kinds and discription," Patch reported, were "very scarce just at present time," and prices for Baldwins and Spies could only go higher. It is the voice of a competitive, time-sensitive marketplace.
[IMAGE: Patch & Roberts letter, November 11, 1908] Caption: A. Warren Patch to J. A. Jewett, November 11, 1908. From the Town of Alna archives.
By 1931, the store was dealing with Hannaford Bros. Co. in Portland — a name that every New England grocery shopper knows today, but which in the 1930s belonged to a produce wholesaler, not a supermarket chain. Hannaford did not open its first retail store until 1944. A May 1931 sales account records the disposition of 174 barrels of apples shipped on behalf of the Glen Jewett Estate: Baldwins (both export and domestic), Spys, and Kings. After freight, storage, cartage, and Hannaford's 5% commission, the net proceeds came to $254.73.
[IMAGE: Hannaford Bros. Account of Sales, May 1, 1931] Caption: Hannaford Bros. Co., Account of Sales, May 1, 1931. Consignment #61663 for the Glen Jewett Estate. Spys form the largest single barrel lot. From the Town of Alna archives.
Sources: "Eggs & Apples" ledger, 1897–1907, Jewett Store collection (courtesy Joan Gregoire). Patch & Roberts letter, November 11, 1908, to J. A. Jewett, Head Tide, Maine (Town of Alna archives). Hannaford Bros. Co. Account of Sales, May 1, 1931, Consignment #61663, for Glen Jewett Est., Head Tide, Me. (Town of Alna archives). Hannaford corporate history: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 59, via FundingUniverse.