The Origins of the Orange Feud
Long before Floridians were untangling Christmas lights from their palm trees, citrus growers had their own holiday tradition: battling for the top spot in the Christmas fruit basket craze. In the early 1900s, Florida’s citrus industry was booming, and every grove owner wanted their oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines to be the fruit of choice for Christmas gift baskets around the country.
"Why send socks when you could send sunshine?" became an unofficial slogan of Florida’s citrus sales campaigns. And it worked! Citrus fruit became a coveted holiday gift, especially for northerners buried in snow. Orders for fresh Florida oranges surged every December, and with every boom in sales came fierce competition.
Tangelo Tension and Grapefruit Grudges
With the fruit frenzy in full swing, the rivalry between citrus growers escalated. Billboards along Florida highways were the battlegrounds of advertising wit. Signs like "THE SWEETEST ORANGES IN FLORIDA" appeared, only to be one-upped by a bigger sign a mile down the road claiming, "NOPE, THESE ARE SWEETER!"
Then there was the infamous "Tangelo Tension" of the 1920s. Competing growers would line up their stands along the same roadside stretches, each claiming to have the juiciest fruit. Whisper campaigns started. Customers would hear, "I’d stay away from Joe’s stand — heard his tangelos are more sour than sweet this year." It’s unclear if these rumors were true, but they sure didn’t stop people from talking.
The "Christmas Basket Craze"
By the 1940s and 1950s, Florida citrus was the it gift of the holiday season. Mail-order companies and local groves alike began churning out "Christmas Sunshine Baskets" filled with fresh fruit to be shipped across the U.S. Families in snowy northern states eagerly awaited these colorful boxes of warmth and vitamin C.
To cash in on the craze, citrus towns like Winter Garden and Winter Haven held elaborate Citrus Parades. Floats shaped like giant oranges and grapefruits rolled down the street, and "Citrus Queens" waved from the tops of giant fruit floats. If you’ve ever seen a parade float shaped like a 10-foot-tall tangerine, you’ve seen a relic of this juicy tradition.
With all that hype, growers doubled down on marketing. Radio ads played catchy jingles about "Florida’s Finest Christmas Gift," and local groves sent out colorful brochures to northern households. Some growers would even "gift" a free orange to first-time customers, a move that’s marketing 101 today but felt revolutionary at the time.
Earl “Big Peel” McAllister’s Big Idea
If there’s one man who represents the height of citrus marketing, it’s Earl "Big Peel" McAllister. Earl didn’t just want to sell oranges — he wanted to create a spectacle. In 1953, he built a 20-foot-tall orange-shaped kiosk on the side of the highway and staffed it with a "talking orange" animatronic named Mr. O.
Travelers would stop out of curiosity (and possibly confusion) as Mr. O bellowed, "GET YOUR CHRISTMAS ORANGES HERE, FRESH FROM THE TREE!" It was part kitsch, part marketing genius, and it worked — Earl’s sales skyrocketed. His larger-than-life approach became legend, though his animatronic orange "mysteriously disappeared" one night, rumored to be a prank pulled by a rival grove.
When It Turned From Friendly to Feisty
With success came sharper elbows. Competing growers took their advertising rivalries to the radio. Subtle jabs disguised as jingles made for prime entertainment. One ad for "Sunny Grove Citrus" boasted, "Don’t get stuck with sour gifts. Buy from Sunny Grove — no pranks, just perfection!" The competing grove, "Orange Blossom Orchards," clapped back with an ad that aired the next day: "Sour? We’re sweet as Christmas candy. Must be talking about someone else!"
Even more dramatic were the reports of "label switching." A crate of fruit might show up at its destination labeled as one grove’s product, only for the customers to discover it had come from a rival grove. While no one officially admitted to the prank, industry insiders whispered about it for decades.
The Slow End of the Citrus Wars
By the 1970s, big companies like Tropicana and Sunkist had taken over much of the citrus market, leaving family-run groves with fewer resources to compete. The smaller, playful rivalries of the early days faded into folklore.
But traces of the Citrus Wars live on. Drive down Florida’s backroads today and you’ll still spot signs boasting "THE SWEETEST ORANGES IN FLORIDA." If you’re lucky, you might stumble upon an old citrus stand with the words "FRESH FROM THE TREE" hand-painted in bright orange letters. It’s a quiet nod to the days when citrus groves didn’t just sell fruit — they sold a dream of Florida sunshine in every box.
Feeling nostalgic for a taste of Florida’s sweetest holiday tradition? Treat your family (or yourself) to a classic Christmas fruit basket straight from Florida’s groves.