Who was the original SUN-MAID Girl?

Miss Lorraine Collett had just started work packing raisins in Fresno. Soon after, the pretty black-haired girl and two other young ladies were chosen by the California Associated Raisin Company to help promote Sun-Maid Raisins at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The girls wore blue bonnets and white blouses trimmed with blue piping, the traditional uniform of packing house workers.      "We walked among the fairgoers," she later recalled, "with platters of Sun-Maid raisins and passed out samples." But that wasn't her only duty. Each afternoon, Lorraine would hop in a light plane and fly overhead, dropping raisins to the San Francisco crowd. During a break from the exposition, Lorraine returned to Fresno to participate in the annual Raisin day Parade.      "It was a Sunday morning and my mother had just finished washing and setting my hair," she remembered. Donning her favorite red sunbonnet, she was relaxing on the front porch when a group of visitors dropped by. Among the visitors was Leroy Payne, an Associated Raisin executive. Payne's eyes brightened at the sight of the red sunbonnet and an idea was born.      "Payne was impressed by the effect of the sun on the red bonnet," she recalled. "Not only did we wear that color for the remainder of the fair, but I was asked to pose for the trademark."      After returning to San Francisco, Lorraine began posing for artist Fanny Scafford. For two weeks the young discovery posed each day until noon when she would leave for her usual duties at the Exposition. Several poses were tried and rejected until the final painting was completed. It portrayed the young model wearing her red bonnet and white blouse holding a wicker tray overflowing with grapes. In the background was a brilliant sunburst. The circular painting was displayed at the Exposition's horticulture building before evolving into the original Sun-Maid trademark.      Our entire Association felt the loss when, at age 90, Lorraine Collett Petersen died in March, 1983. She had been part of the Sun-Maid family for three generations. © Sun-Maid Raisin Growers of California