# Why are clementines sold in crates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455 "2010-02-10T18:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/41 "2010-10-13T13:17:43Z")
Well, the gift crate idea came out of an era when fresh fruit that wasn’t grown within about 100 miles of you was a special treat. That five pound box of fruit may be the only chance you had to taste them each year. Today, people find the idea that things like apples and tomatoes are not grown year-round to be foreign. but, back when I was a kid, we didn’t have oranges throughout the year - they made a brief appearance in the winter, then went away for another year. Unless you had a friend going to Hawaii for vacation, you could go for years without seeing a whole pineapple. Cheap air freight has changed this forever. Now, it’s commercially viable to fly produce all over the planet and either compete with locally-grown product, or be an affordable year-round staple. I just took roll call in my kitchen, and found bananas from Ecuador, apples from New Zealand, onions from Peru and lemons from Chile. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/42 "2010-10-13T14:37:25Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > My apparently dangerous kitchen is full of round fruit: apples, oranges, grapefruit (go banana!). What makes clementines so special? Peaches are subject to rolling too and suffer worse in a fall, but you don’t see them boxed up. They are shipped boxed though. The boxes are pretty big; you wouldn’t buy a whole box of peaches. It’s probably got four or five layers of 20 pieces of fruit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/43 "2010-10-13T14:44:47Z")
I suspect that some type of nostalgia for the old orange crates might be getting evoked by the marketing folks. The labels on those were beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/44 "2010-10-13T16:20:34Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > The real pisser is for us single people who like them but have a hard time eating FIVE POUNDS of them and thus never buy when forced into the bulk scenario. I love the things but couldn’t eat five pounds in a month. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/45 "2010-10-13T17:25:47Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > My apparently dangerous kitchen is full of round fruit: apples, oranges, grapefruit (go banana!). What makes clementines so special? I take it you’ve never been set upon in a dark alley by a man intent on causing you harm with a clementine. _Then_ you’ll realize what the crate is for. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455/46 "2010-10-13T18:43:28Z")
Why, as a matter of fact, that did happen to me! Fortunately, I had trained for this. (I simply pulled the lever and the 16-ton weight fell on the assailant.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-clementines-sold-in-crates/528455.md?page=2)