Japanese Mandarins: A Canadian Holiday Tradition
Reprinted with Permission from the Oppenheimer Group
Vancouver, BC - The holiday season is around the corner, and we'll spend the coming weeks hunting for the perfect presents for those we love. Among the most important gifts a family shares are simply the traditions they use to celebrate special occasions. These traditions are gifts given to us by our families, and we pass them on to our children. Traditions don't have to be expensive, or glamorous, or even logical. Instead, they are meaningful, enduring and solid.
One Canadian holiday custom that has been well loved for over 120 years is that of Japanese mandarin oranges. The traditional greenery and red decorations that grace our homes each December are complemented by the bright orange of these favorite fruits. And what stocking is complete without an easy to peel sweet mandarin orange weighing down its toe?
The idea of sharing the Japanese mandarin oranges during the holidays was introduced to Canadians in the 1880's. Japanese immigrants received them in baskets from their families in Japan to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. The immigrants shared the fruit with their new countrymen, who found the taste of the seedless oranges unlike any other.
Before long, the oranges were imported commercially from Japan. They arrived in Vancouver each November, in nine-pound wooden crates that were hand tied in pairs to form a bundle. They were secured with rush rope made of rice, straw or reeds. The oranges were quickly unloaded and then shipped east by rail. "Orange Trains" - trains with boxcars painted orange - alerted everyone along the way that the irresistible oranges from Japan were back again for the holidays. For many, the arrival of Japanese mandarins signaled the real beginning of the holiday season.
Import of Japanese mandarins halted in 1942. After the war, Douglas MacArthur's provisional government in Japan gradually allowed trade with the West to start again. The oranges were among the first Japanese products to enter Canada. Because people were still smarting from the war and did not readily embrace imports from Japan, marketers and retailers began calling the fruit "mandarin oranges" instead of "Japanese oranges".
Until the 1960's, the oranges continued to arrive in wooden boxes, with each orange hand wrapped in green paper. These boxes were a favorite gift to both give and receive. After the oranges had all been eaten, the wooden crates were converted to sleds, tool boxes, shoe boxes, doll beds and houses, and a myriad of other useful items.
Eventually, the wooden boxes were replaced by more cost-efficient cardboard containers, though many people remember the well constructed and functional wooden crates almost as fondly as the oranges themselves.
Now, the oranges travel from Japan to Vancouver in large bulk shipping containers loaded on ocean vessels. They are packed into nine and five-pound boxes locally, and transported throughout Western Canada in November and December.
The sweet, easy to peel original Japanese mandarin oranges will be available soon.
