Since birth, James Ellis has been surrounded by citrus. Born in a wooden house in the middle of an orange grove, Ellis didn\u2019t have much choice in the matter. But, he wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll my life I\u2019ve been involved in the citrus industry,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cIt\u2019s all I know. And, it\u2019s all I want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of 79 years, Ellis has touched nearly every aspect of Florida citrus. From childhood summers in his parents\u2019 grove to years spent managing packing houses, every step along the way strengthened Ellis\u2019 passion for the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe in this,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched it go up and down. I\u2019ve watched us go through disasters that we didn\u2019t think we could survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citrus greening<\/a>, Ellis said, is just another obstacle the industry will overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreening will not be the end,\u201d he said. \u201cThere will always be orange juice and Florida will always produce oranges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resilience is a trait Ellis picked up early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After high school, Ellis joined the Army and served for three years. He was deployed to South Korea at the tail end of the Korean War. \u201cMostly clean-up work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon returning home to Polk County, Ellis married his wife, Shirley, and attended Florida Southern College<\/a> to study citrus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From there, he followed the career path he was born to pursue. Starting out as a field agent for Florida Citrus Mutual<\/a>, Ellis soon moved to citrus packing houses where he spent more than 20 years.Today, Ellis works in citrus licensing and bonding for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Along the way, Ellis developed an eye for art \u2013 on citrus crates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne day it dawned on me,\u201d he said, \u201cI thought, \u2018those labels are beautiful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spread the word of his interest and calls came in whenever citrus labels were found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One such call had Ellis racing to a closing St. Petersburg<\/a> packing house. He arrived to find a woman sweeping vintage citrus labels into the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On another occasion, Ellis discovered a box full of labels underneath a packing house\u2019s decaying wooden platform. The paper labels, produced in the 1930s and 40s, were in pristine condition, packed tight enough to protect them from water and dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday, I have the world\u2019s largest collection of citrus crate labels<\/a>,\u201d Ellis said. His guess: thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n