Book recalls Gilroy’s prune heritage

“Preserving Gilroy’s Prune Heritage,” a new 33-page memory book of photographs by Phill Laursen, is now available at the Gilroy Museum, 195 Fifth St.
Well-known Gilroyan Al Gagliardi collected the ends of more than 350 prune boxes—each bearing the name of a local farmer—over a period of 60 years. He hoped to use them to document the now-vanished prune heritage in South County. Between approximately 1920 to 1970, hundreds of families cultivated prunes and took them to the Sunsweet co-op dryer, which was located in Gilroy.
Laursen photographed all the box ends and combined those with other photos about growing prunes to document the era in the book.
Purchase copies for $10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday or Thursday at the Gilroy Museum.