Picking Delaware peaches in the mid 20th century

This photograph from the Delaware Economic Development Office Collection shows a group of unidentified farm workers picking peaches in a Delaware orchard sometime during the middle of the 20th century.

Peaches have long been an important orchard crop in Delaware, though their fortunes have waxed and waned along with the emergence and then suppression of various pests and diseases. Especially with the advent and popularity of farmers markets in Delaware, the state’s peach industry is currently in a period of resurgence.