Places
Muirson Label Company
“Muirson’s
Labels and Cartons Wrap the Valley’s Fruit,” c. 1950.Founded in 1914 by George Muirson, the Muirson Label and Crate Company was the only label printing company in the Santa Clara Valley in the 20th century. From 1914 until its closure in 1970, the company served the needs of most of the Valley’s canneries large and small. The company’s initial success was due in no small part to the influence of its vice-president, Robert I. Bentley, Jr. and his family connections in the fruit packing industry. Over the Muirson Label Company’s history, however, it was the consistent excellence of their work that gained them local devotion and a national reputation. In addition to its Stockton Avenue facility, Muirson operated offices in Connecticut, Illinois and New York and a second printing plant in Stockton, California. The company counted as clients some of the biggest and most successful food companies in the United States. At its peak the company produced as many as 5 million labels per day and used between three and four railcar-loads of paper a week.
Like many other companies in the Santa Clara Valley, Muirson Label Company thrived by offering a service complimentary to the area’s strong agricultural economy. The company’s headquarters on Stockton Street was located not far from the bustling Del Monte Canneries, the headquarters of the Farm Machinery Corp. (FMC), and a multitude of smaller canning enterprises. And like these businesses, Muirson’s fate was intimately tied to the fate of the agricultural industry. As agriculture was replaced by high-technology enterprises in the 1960’s, Muirson’s business in the Valley slowed. The company was sold to International Paper Company in 1960, and continued operations in San José until 1970.
