Mandarin oranges are a staple of Christmas celebrations. The juicy, easy-to-peel citrus fruit has a long history in Canada. Many remember finding an orange in the toe of their Christmas stocking. Do you remember how the arrival of the first shipment of ”Japanese oranges” at the Vancouver docks was an annual news item on CBC television?
In Canada, mandarins were usually purchased in five-pound wooden boxes, individually wrapped in soft green paper. Many children turned the empty wooden boxes into doll furniture or bedroom shelving. The soft paper was a welcome addition to the outhouse!
The custom of gifting oranges at Christmas goes back to the 1880s when Japanese immigrants in Canada began receiving mandarins from their families back home as gifts. The tradition spread among the non-Japanese population and east across the country.
The delicate Japanese oranges were quickly shipped east by rail on “Orange trains”, trains with box cars painted orange. The special trains alerted everyone along the way that the special oranges from Japan were back again for the holidays. Imports of these Japanese oranges were suspended during World War II. After the war, mandarins were one of the first Japanese goods allowed for export, but residual hostility led to their rebranding as “mandarins”.
The European tradition of placing an orange in the Christmas stocking may spring from a story about Saint Nicholas, who is said to have put gold coins into the stockings of three poor girls so that they would be able to afford to get married. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold being placed in the stockings. Oranges became a symbolic stand-in for gold balls. (Source: Wikipedia)
Canadians continue their love of Christmas oranges, but the source of the oranges has changed dramatically. Exports of mandarin oranges from China are now 60% of the North American market. Other large exporters of mandarin oranges are Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco. (The COVID pandemic created shortages of some produce. For a time, the Chinese mandarins were unavailable due to trade sanctions. Instead of Chinese mandarins, the local Co-op sold oranges from Turkey. They arrived in small wooden boxes.)
Production of mandarin oranges has decreased drastically in Japan, and labour shortages have also contributed to a massive price increase. Apparently, Japan can’t compete cost-wise with the Chinese oranges, so Japan doesn’t make many oranges.
Today, Chinese mandarins arrive in cardboard boxes rather than wooden crates. They are no longer individually wrapped in tissue paper. And the five-pound box has shrunk to four pounds (1.8 kg) but at a higher price.
Mandarin oranges are a healthy, relatively inexpensive treat not available at Christmas or anytime of the year. The memories they evoke are priceless!
