Program Chronicles Door County’s Cherry Heyday

The Egg Harbor Historical Society will present “Where Were You When the Cherries Needed to Be Picked?” on Aug. 10, 7 pm, at the Kress Pavilion, 7845 Church St in Egg Harbor.

The heyday of Door County’s cherry industry was the 1940s and ’50s, when 700 growers produced up to 50 million pounds of cherries annually, making up about 10% of the world’s cherries. 

This boom coincided with a labor shortage on the peninsula – and at a time before the advent of mechanical pickers. Cherry picking was extremely labor intensive, so about 10,000 laborers per season worked in the county’s orchards, including local youngsters who helped to fill the labor shortage. 

Learn more about this fascinating time in the county’s history – the Horseshoe Bay Orchard boys’ cherry-picking camp will be featured during the program.