In The Big M: Montana’s Fruit Industry, the Big Fruit Boom, and Beyond,
historian Kelsey Doncaster tells the story of Montana’s fruit boom through the colorful advertising labels pasted on the ends of fruit shipping crates. With names such as Big M, Bitter Root, Blue Goose, Bonnie Highland, and Mountain Valley, growers advertised their products with catchy slogans and used attractive images to entice buyers in fruit auction houses and customers at local grocery stores. Each label reveals a piece of the story of the grower, the broker, the shipper, their times and places, and collectively the story of Montana’s fruit industry