As summer progressed in the Rogue Valley in 1903, the pear crop ripened for harvest and orchardists sought packers to ensure safe shipment to customers. Local women provided most of the seasonal workforce, many working year after year from late summer to late fall alongside other family members and neighbors to assure top quality fruit.
Elsie Tucker was working for Clay and Meader orchards when a gold ring she was wearing slipped from her finger into a packing box. She figured the ring was lost forever because she could not tell which box it had fallen into.
A fruit and vegetable dealer in Louisiana, A. J. Roadhouse, received a box of pears around Sept. 5. He opened a box and found the gold ring. He wrote the following message to Clay and Meader, “Will you please ask packer No. 3 if she lost a piece of jewelry in packing a box of Bartlett pears? If so, please let me know and I will send it to her.”
Due to an honest man, Elsie got her ring back.
Source: The Lost Ring is Found." Southern Oregon History, Revised. Ed. Tina Truwe. Mail Tribune, 24 Sept. 1903. Web. 20 July 2016.
