Gifts of the Sun (ca 1946)

what does it say John oh I can't find my it says gifts of the sun gifts or what are they going to give us the air if you're not quiet starring apricots peaches prunes raisins dried by the sun oh produced by Delonte John yes who are those people hitchhikers going along for the ride oh narrated by Dr Sunshine oh well that's silly no it isn't Mary this is one story the sun tells better than anyone else you know it's a big job to be the sun there are lot of climates a lot of countries to look after they keep vigorous and healthy I do right well at it too if I do say so myself but down there in one corner of the earth is a spot called California where I've been well sort of extra liberal with my talents why well they've got some Soil and Water just suited to growing things fruit trees especially when I spot a setup like that Taylor Maid you might say I just naturally pour it on with the result that if you set out to find the best apricots on Mother Earth you'd sooner or later end up there there in a place called the Santa Clara Valley close by in the same peaceful region you'd run into the world's finest prunes with a bloom of Health on their cheeks that I put there by hand for plump flavorful peaches you'd head for the Sacramento in San mokin Valley there you'd find them in abundance tender mellow and full of flavor for the world's finest grapes you'd look to the San Valley rightfully called the Great basket of a nation and your mouth would simply water over those luscious Amber morsels just bursting their skins with sugar and goodness now proud as I am of this job I don't want to seem boastful about my end of it after all I have to work with earth and water to produce this wonderful fruit then it's up to men to use it wisely one of the wise ways they found long centuries ago is the preservation of Fruit by drying I want to tell you about that now I've seen a lot of fruit drying in my time but the best job I know is done under the Eagle Eye of DelMonte one of the world's great factors in the dried fruit industry so follow closely and see how Delon puts me old Dr sunshine on their dried fruit payroll of course to produce good dried fruit you've got to begin with good sound fresh fruit that's important important why I always thought dried fruit was just the leftovers leftovers Mary not a bit of it much of California's finest fruit is grown especially for drying 70% of her apricots and raisin grapes more than half her Freestone peaches almost her entire prune crop does that look like leftovers no ma'am dried fruit is a Mainline industry from start to finish year after year I I've watched delmonti buyers go out to those favored fruit growing regions and literally comb them over buying only the better crops for their dried fruit pack as a result of this and I can vouch for it delmo quality is built on selected fruit of course selected fruit means more than fruit from favorite areas it also means fruit of perfect ripeness and I'll tell you why if it isn't ripe and just about running over with sugar and sweetness it's no good for drying the resulting product will be flat and tasteless there's no second guess on a deal like that fruit is either ripe or it isn't and you can't hang it back to ripen once you pick it too soon so Delma stipulates that constant checks be made in the field ripeness is the rule full sugar content the measuring stick on any and all fruit earmark Del Monte not until those plump par of nature are almost bursting with sugar is the go-ahead given the pickers that's the way it is with peaches grapes and apricots it's up to men to time the ripeness but over in the prune Department I hold a stopwatch myself the prunes sit up there basking in my Warm Rays until sugar content reaches a peak that's the instant of perfect ripeness at that moment I kind of press a button and the prune lets go before they par parachute to Earth the soil is carefully prepared so they land on a nice soft cushion when the pickers gather them up by hand each prune is perfectly ripe and that's a fact selected fruit destined for Delon but delmonti selection means more than favored areas or rip Perfection it also applies to the care with which the fruit is dried so let's hop along and watch the drying why don't they hold still don't they want to be dried hold your horses John this is a special step for prunes before they go to the dry yard they get dipped here in a mild alkaline bath which checks the skins with microscopic cracks out on the dry yard those unseen cracks become tiny Escape valves for moisture as I turn on the heat they speed up evaporation and nothing is lost but the moisture John what now do you think all the moisture is taken out oh ask the doctor no Mary not all the moisture but most of it and here's why fresh fruits contain some 70 to 85% water if all this were left in the fruit in time would spoil so by drying we reduce the moisture to about 15 or 20% just enough is left in to form a concentrated syrup so high in sugar content that it acts as a natural preservative the fruit if properly handled and protected will keep for a long long time okay okie dokie doctor now in drying raisins no alkaline bath is needed as a matter of fact grapes can be left on The Vines and I'll turn them into raisins right there but Growers have learned that I work faster and better if the fruit is picked and laid in the open so the rich ripe clusters are placed on trays right in The Vineyards and I proceed to concentrate their sugars with peaches and apricots things are a bit more complicated these fruits go from Orchard direct to cutting tables after which they're fully qualified to say let me tell you about my operation haved and pitted those ripe golden Beauties will give up their moisture quickly and without a struggle now here's where science comes to the aid of sunshine if this fruit went directly to the dry yard certain undesirable changes would take place to Forstall those changes it is treated in tightly closed rooms with fumes of burnt sulfur sulfur wait a minute doctor my wife likes untreated dried fruit she wouldn't if she knew the facts John and I'll tell you why in the first place the purpose of the treatment is to stabilize the color of the fruit in the second place to stabilize its valuable vitamin C content the only known practical agent to accomplish this needed job is fumes from burning sulfur Delonte uses this approved method because it gives protection without penalty to taste food value and quality when sunbath time comes those Orchard Queens stretch out and relax like bathing beauties at the beach then I take over removing the moisture little by little but leaving intact all the food value in the fruit of course there's no thermostatic control on me Dr Sunshine so Mr grower has to watch the timing and take the fruit in at the Prime of condition and in the case of raisins give me an even chance on both sides of the stack so you see how it is I take 3 to 6 lbs of fresh fruit depending on variety and with the help of the grower reduce it to one pound of dried fruit then my work is done our selected fruit is ready for the packing house and Delma if I tried to tell you in one word The Secret of Delmont equality that word would be control control built on countless safeguards of careful grading of cleanliness of minute inspections and scientific processing DelMonte control begins at the front door of the packing house here prunes get a vigorous shaking to remove Twigs leaves and Twine all fruits are test graded for size and quality but that's hardly a start Delma knows that to every purchaser the size and uniformity of dried fruit are Mighty important to catalog it delmonti really goes to town not by guess not by humans say so but by the unfailing accuracy of machines fast mechanical shakers that jog the fruit along to the first trap door that fits Bingo it plops through automatically classified to uniform side sizes when Delmon labels say fruit is such and such a size this machine's the guarantee and it just can't miss of course that's only size it doesn't say anything about quality of the fruit I'll come to that later another chapter in control is raisin stemming after the sweet meaty raisins have been removed from their main stems and accurately graded for size delman goes after the cap stems those stubborn little fellows that Buckle Mr raisin to the main stem for this another machine goes into action inside its whirling meshes raisins play a game of crack the whip raisins travel one way stems fly off the other and is this a boon to Housewives just think John in the old days I had to pick over every raisin and pull those pesky stems by hand more cleanliness control this is not a raisin racetrack but a series of powerful magnets Delma guarantees it won't pull the iron out of the raisin that's a gag Mary in case you didn't know right John but it does remove any nails or bits of iron that sneaked in from the drying trays or lug boxes next Delma goes after fifth columnists any little stones and Pebbles that try to pretend they're raisins that's easy they're taken with the raisins for a swim in a freshwater washer Pebbles are trapped at the bottom and that's the end of that so it is with every dried fruit in the Delon line cleansed time and time again with special equipment tailored to special needs DED dunked plunged and bathed in freshwater Changed by the second Whirled in efficient rotary washers so fast they must be slowed for the camera to see them their back scrub with soft bristle brushes which in actual practice WHL it miles a minute tubbed in warm water showered with cold it isn't done once it isn't done twice it's done again and again and again in every manner of cleaning equipment in clean fresh water constantly changed and when those sparkling fruits finally emerge from their ordeal they're really clean and how I get it doctor you mean they're clean yes but there's more to come for beyond that efficient cleaning Delma takes further measures to preserve and protect that treasured cleanliness all the way to the consumer this added control is known as processing processing is adjusted to the nature of the fruit for peaches and apricots it means a last Light sulfuring final stabilization of vitamin C and color prunes being of different nature are processed in boiling water in the processor they travel an automatically controlled Journey designed to retain their natural flavor and goodness emerging they are not only clean but softened which partially EXP explains a fact well known to housewives that Delma prunes need not be soaked overnight for cooking yes Delma control is a pattern of many parts some of them human some machine and of these none more important than the inspection Crews Guardians of the inspection belts who with quick hand and eager Eye stand watch over final quality past this sharpy reviewing line dried fruits march on dress parade and and eyes go to work out go imperfect specimens broken skinned or blemished pieces for any and all shortcomings the delinquents are as they say in the Law Courts summer ejected John John uh what does that mean that to summerly ejected thrown out what you'll be if you don't stop talking what was Superior fruit in the field is now thanks to Delma control Superior dried fruit ready for the consumer so let's move along to the weighing tables where accurate weight of every fruit and every cotton is a delate watchword to assure full measure scales are set for more than the weight shown on the package this tolerance is an offset to the Natural evaporation that takes place after packaging no matter when the carton is opened the buyer is sure to receive full value now what would be the use of all this care in Fruit selection and handling If the product didn't reach the consumer in proper condition the answer is none so delon's protective packaging is a vital step in the delivery of a quality pack protective packaging to Delonte that means special cartons for special types of fruit peaches prunes and apricots take the famous triple seal the first seal being a specially developed paper liner formed automatically and tightly sealed over the liner a second seal is formed a husky cardboard carton it goes so fast I I I can't follow it oh thank you delon's colorful label wrap provides the third and final seal beneath those triple breasted jackets Delmont equality resides in safety but still another Safeguard is added a code number number mechanically stamped on the package by means of which Delma can identify all of its packages right through to the consumer for seedless raisins Delma employs the exclusive and famous wax wrap pack the carton is filled direct weighed and sealed then something magic happens a marker passes before an electric eye which with a single wink measures off a DelMonte label nice as you please a very special DelMonte label impregnated and coated with wax an electric ironer seals the seams and locks the pack up tight those heavy meaty raisins are now encased in a solid wall of wax so secure you could sink it in water let it stand for hours and when rescued from the Briney deep those tender delman raisins would be as perfect as the moment they entered the carton nothing gets in nothing gets out that's protect Ive packaging there's still a lot I haven't told about dried fruit another whole story could be woven around the handling of seeded raisins their seeds removed in much the same way cotton seeds are removed by the cotton gin nor did I tell you that an important part of the prune crop is now dehydrated mechanically the results are the same as drying my own Rays I just thought I ought to mention it but we've had to travel fast so I've given you Highlights Highlights that show show the Eternal vigilance Delma devotes to dried fruit in the careful selection of fruit thoroughly ripened scientifically dried so only the best becomes Delante in rigid Packing House control exercised through endless sequences of grading cleansing inspection and scientific processing in ceaseless Devotion to honest measure Safeguard to every customer's pocketbook in protective Packaging wax wraps or triple seals that deliver dried fruit fresh and clean to the consumer's table no wonder they're good no wonder they're famous theirs from tree to table a precious Heritage of Quality quality built by Sun and modern science quality built by a vigilant delm