Spring is in the air! Soon it will be that time of year when we put on swimsuits and high heels and climb an apple tree, as seen in this 1940s photograph of Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival court attendants. (Don’t judge us.)

Apples have been an important crop in this state for over a century. A keyword search for “apple” at our website reveals more than 22,000 records. We have photographs of the apple industry (with and without beauty queens), Department of Agriculture educational pamphlets on apple insecticides (in Spanish as well), hundreds of mentions of apples in city ordinances, and this oral history of pioneer apple farming in Spokane.

The wealth of resources around this topic shows the richness of your Washington State Digital Archives, which preserves over 185 million records.