South Shore Packing Corp. – Vermilion, Ohio

Did you know that for many years, a packing plant in Vermilion, Ohio packed millions of olives each year, shipping them from coast to coast under various labels?

At one point, the South Shore Packing Company was the nation’s largest producer of “fancy pack” olives and was ranked as the 10th largest importer of olives in the United States. It was located at 5117 South Street.

Here are labels of two of the olive brands packed by the South Shore Packing Company, in addition to its own South Shore brand.

The South Shore Packing Company is currently the subject of a neat little display in Vermilion’s Ritter Public Library. The exhibit includes vintage olive jars and lids, company letterhead, article reprints and a shipping box.

Here's a peek at some of the displays.

Coincidentally, a few months ago I received copies of the same materials that are part of the library display. They were shared with me by local historian and author Matt Weisman, who thought they might make a good subject for a blog post.

Here’s one of the color product cards (the other is at the top of this post).

And here is a Plain Dealer article and photos about the company from June 16, 1963.

BOTTLES ’N’ BARRELS. Merle Roger, outside foreman, pushes another barrel into position in the storage yard. The barrels and hogsheads contain the olives and are shipped to Vermilion from Spain. The jugs are filled with salt brine which drips down into the barrels to keep the olives constantly covered.

THE RUN. Down go the briny olives into the wash from their barrel as Mrs. Martha Mey releases them.

TREE TRIMMER. Mary Lou Canterbury is the expert placing the olives on the branches of  the plastic “tree,” then placing the trees in jars. Pull out the tree and the olives, too. No more digging.

Here’s another article reprint. It’s from the February 1971 issue of Port of Cleveland Newsletter and has some terrific photos in addition to a detailed explanation of company operations from port to grocery store.

The article points out that “the barrels and casks were hand made of Chestnut from Portugal. Since it is not practical to reship the empties, South Shore sells them for many uses. Fishing camps use them for keeping minnows, farmers for feed containers, etc. People who are skilled at woodcraft make all kinds of furniture from them. Supermarkets often use them to make display stands for the many South Shore variety packs (see photo).”

The article also notes, “The 50 year old company has been located in Vermilion (under the same management) since 1943. Although the plant packs some private label brands, their own South Shore brand represents 78% of the company’s production.”

Lastly, here's a late July 1977 Associated Press article about the South Shore Packing Company that received national distribution. This clipping appeared in the Newark Advocate on July 30, 1977.

The South Shore Packing Company appears to have closed when its owner, S. Leonard Appleman, retired in 1987. It disappeared from the Lorain phone book after the 1986-87 edition.

S. Leonard Appleman passed away on November 20, 1989.

Courtesy Morning Journal

Thanks to Matt Weisman and Al Doane for providing the historical materials for this post.