Collectible Olive Oil Labels
Dr. Mark Wickens

People collect all kinds of  labels for ink, perfumes, syrups, vinegar, mineral water, whiskey, rum, beer, wine, sardines, match boxes, fruit crates and so on. These collections are numerous and sometimes massive, containing twenty, forty or even hundreds of thousands of items. Very few people collect olive oil labels. This is curious, since many olive oil label designs are splendid and resemble images on wine, whiskey, rum, beer and other labels. However, in my opinion, olive oil labels tend to be even classier. The vast majority of those that I have seen suggest superior quality: superbly drawn coats of arms, beautiful women, knights on horses, generals, lions, eagles, griffins, angels, goddesses, chariot scenes, manors, castles and the like. And to emphasize quality even further, liberal use was and still is made of gold and decorative ornaments. Of course, many of these images are created to be distinctive and easily identifiable, which is useful for marketing purposes. Other labels feature a grove scene (olive pickers), olive branches or olive trees, a horse-powered olive press, a large pottery vase, a city scene, a statue, an anchor, a butterfly, an elephant, a dove, a swallow, flowers or a dragon, to mention just a few.

The oldest olive oil label that I am aware of dates from about 1860, according to two different independent sources, and was reportedly used by the private supplier to Napoleon IV. It is a very ornate design consisting of a red and gold coat of arms surrounded by gold scrollwork. All of the gold is in relief. The earliest Italian olive oil label that I have seen dates from 1899, but it is safe to say that Italian producers started using labels long before that. American olive oil labels date back at least to the 1890s, and some of these old designs are strikingly similar to the designs on French olive oil labels of that era, some of which were stone-lithographed. There are probably some very old Spanish and Portuguese olive oil labels as well, but I have not seen any. Nowadays, Italy is definitely leading the way, as Italian artists are creating many excellent, beautiful and intensely interesting designs. One very striking contemporary Italian design shows a monk climbing an olive tree. French, Spanish, Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian, American and Portuguese producers and packers are using fine designs as well.

Most of us probably associate olive oil with cooking. However, in North America at least, olive oil has been sold in pharmacies for medicinal purposes since the early part of this century, and some of the labels are quite attractive, especially the older ones, some depicting an olive branch with gold olives, others a red cross and scrollwork. In Israel, olive oil is used for sacramental purposes as well. Some of the labels in question depict religious artifacts, such as an ancient oil lamp.

I believe that olive oil labels offer some very fine artwork that has not received due attention.

Mark Wickens has a collection of about  1,300 different labels. He  would like to correspond with other olive oil label collectors for the purpose of swapping labels or information, or with anyone else who might be willing to trade olive oil labels for other items. contact at wickens@videotron.ca or Website: http://pages.infinit.net/wickens/
 

Electronic Acidity Tester

We have had a tremendous interest in a new hand held acidity and peroxides tester. The tester requires only micro liter amounts of sample to produce results in minutes using a colorimetric method. The rugged 12 volt machines use low cost pre-measured disposable reagents and pipettes and do away with test tubes. The basic model checks acidity and peroxides while the premium one also checks saponified matter ("soaps") and polyphenols. The larger machine has a printer to document measurements on paper tape.

There are several reasons to measure olive oil acidity and peroxides. Most companies want their oil certified by local or international bodies. Certification requires passing organoleptic (taste, smell) and chemical parameters. Acidity testing in California for California Olive Oil Council certification is currently done at certified independent labs. It is uncertain if producers would be allowed to test their own oil for certification if they had the equipment. Requiring independent labs discourages fraud, although it is only the honor system which prevents tampering with the sample sent to the lab. While lab fees are not exorbitant for most producers, shipping samples and waiting for results is a bother.

Having one's own tester allows for some interesting experimentation. Producers can test the effect of olive variety, ripeness, harvest method, time to milling, milling method and pest infestation on acidity and peroxides. Different oil batches could be blended to optimize acidity for submission for certification. Planting decisions could be changed depending on results.

Producers may want to test oil in storage for freshness. Olive oil makers are becoming concerned with how their product is treated after it enters the retail chain. Oil could be pulled off the shelf to make sure it has not been improperly handled. Tins or tinted glass may be necessary for some retail segments depending on results.

Those owning commercial mills could more easily provide customers with an acidity determination for every batch of olives put through. Experimentation with different grinders and malaxation times could be facilitated by such a tester.

Checking olive oil acidity using standard lab equipment is straightforward but time consuming and messy. Titration burettes must be set up, reagents made and checked for freshness, drops counted and mixing performed consistently. There can be operator to operator differences in interpretation of results.  Then there is the cleanup; "doing the dishes" afterward. 

The machines have a sensitivity of  .05% oleic acid and .5mEO/Kg peroxides. They run on 12v. and come with a 120v adapter.

For more information call The Olive Oil Source at 805-688-1014 or email
 

Briefs: Spinosad receives Organic Approval GF-120 Naturalyte Fruit Fly Bait has received organic approval.  It is still a Section 18 substance instead of a section 3 which would increase the number of people who can apply it. California Olive Prices Table olive processors paid an average of $431 per ton this season.  Manzanillo received $432, Sevillano $436 and other varieties $363 per ton. This barely paid for harvesting.  Last year average prices were $621 per ton.  Heavy imports of EU subsidized olives have hurt the California ripe olive industry. Designer Eggs The Atkins diet has increased the sale of all eggs and especially new designer eggs which are lower in fat and higher in omega-3 fatty acids.  These eggs are laid by chickens fed various "heart healthy" non-animal fats such as flax seed and canola oil. Will chickens be eating olive oil soon? Tulare Votes to form Olive fly district Next month Tulare County olive farmers will be voting to form an olive fly abatement district. See events for times and places Reusing Frying Oil In a study by Dr. Federico Soriguer of the Hospital Civil Plaza in Malaga, Spain, cooking oil was tested in home deep fryers.  Residents of houses where the oil had been used many times had higher blood pressure than those who discarded their oil after 2 or 3 uses.  There was less of an effect with olive oil and a greater effect with sunflower seed oil. Oldest Man Endorses Mediterranean Diet The world's oldest living man, Joan Ruidavets Moll, a former shoe repairman, celebrated his 114th birthday on Menorca.  He gives credit for his longevity to a Mediterranean diet of mostly fish, tomatoes and olive oil.

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