Chapter 2

A Brief History of Tomatoes

Tomatoes belong to the genus Lycopersicon, which is in the same family as potatoes, Solanaceae (the Nightshade Family). The leaves and flowers of potato and tomato plants resemble one another. Wild tomato varieties have tiny fruits, and only the red ones are edible. The wild green ones are toxic as are the leaves and vines of the red ones.

Tomato plants grow as annuals in cold regions though indeterminate varieties may continue to grow indefinitely in warm climates and greenhouses. The very first tomatoes were native to the coastal highlands of western South America where the weather is both hot and dry. In Peru, where tomatoes are thought to have originated, they were ignored by the Incas. There is little found in the literature or early art work of the Incas relative to tomatoes. From Peru, a wild ancestor of the present day tomato made its way north to Central America and then on to Mexico, probably in the 1400's. Tomatoes were being grown throughout Central America when the first conquistadors arrived in the Yucatan area of what is now Mexico in the early 16th century. At that time, tomatoes were an important crop among the Indians. Following the Spanish exploration of Central America, tomatoes made their way to Europe.

Although tomatoes were originally cultivated in the Americas, they were grown and developed on a much more intense level throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, with several new varieties emerging as a result of mutations and cross pollinations. Tomato plants are naturally self-pollinating, and as such, they tend to become genetically homozygous after many generations. Tomatoes do not naturally outcross very often, and the early varieties that were kept in a family or community for long periods of time, earned the name heirlooms. Heirloom varieties dating back over a hundred years are being grown even today. There are some varieties of tomatoes still being handed down in families that are as yet unnamed.

The names of heirloom tomato varieties often reflect some of the history of the seeds. Polish, Schellenburg's Favorite, 1884, Elbe, Amish Paste, Brandywine, Hillbilly, and Old Virginia are but a few. Polish is a variety said to have been smuggled into the U.S. on the back of a postage stamp in the late 1800's. Schellenburg's Favorite came from the Schellenburg family near Manheim, Germany. 1884 was found growing in a pile of flood debris near Friendly, WV by Mr. Williamson in 1884. Elbe originated in 1889, near the Elbe River in Germany. Amish Paste is a variety that has been cultivated by the Amish in Pennsylvania since the 1870's. Brandywine was developed by Amish farmers near Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1885. Hillbilly came from the hills of West Virginia. Old Virginia was grown by locals in Virginia since the early 1900's. Stories of immigrants smuggling seeds into the United States often occur in heirloom descriptions.

Many heirloom varieties have colorful histories. A West Virginian named Radiator Charlie owned a radiator repair shop at the bottom of a steep mountain that caused many trucks to develop radiator problems as they climbed the mountain roads. Charlie took his four largest-fruited tomato plants and crossed them repeatedly until he created a plant that produced two pound tomatoes. He sold these plants for a dollar each, quite a bit of money at the time for a tomato plant, claiming that one plant would feed a family of six. Within four years, he had made enough money to pay off the four thousand dollar mortgage on his house. Thereafter, he named the variety Mortgage Lifter. Another variety with an interesting history is Boxcar Willie, and there are many others.

By the end of the Civil War, tomatoes were common in American gardens. Hand written recipes using tomatoes first appeared around 1750, and published recipes can be found in an American cookbook written in 1832, The Cook's Own Book. Tomato seeds were sold in Philadelphia by 1800, and one of the first companies to sell tomato seeds was the Landreth Seed Company of Philadelphia. By 1865, there were several dozen varieties of tomato seeds available in the United States. That number has grown to over 15,000 tomato varieties.

Tomato processing began in 1847, when Harrison Woodhull Crosby, the chief gardener at Lafayette College, developed a crude method of canning tomatoes. Prior to 1890, all tomato canning was done by hand. Mechanized peeling tables were first used in the 1890's. Industry output improved with canning technology, and tomato juice came on the market with the development of the juice extractor in the 1920's. By the late 1960's, mechanical harvesting became a reality, and this spurred the industry to develop better techniques of bulk handling and processing.

Shortly after tomato peeling became mechanized in 1890, a young entrepreneur named Joseph Campbell found a ready market for canned tomato products, and went on to make millions with his soup company featuring Campbell's Tomato Soup.

As with any homozygous crop, hybrid breeding can result in gains in production and quality. When two homozygous lines are crossed, the resulting progeny inherit a high degree of genetic variability that leads to hybrid vigor, and they may perform much better than either of their parents. One result can be increased fruit size. By the beginning of the twentieth century, disease resistance, bush type, and determinate growth habits were also found in hybrid varieties. Hybrid varieties have come to dominate tomato production. Seed taken from hybrid plants will produce plants that may be very dissimilar, and not at all like their parent. This makes hybrids very attractive to seed producers since customers must buy new seed each year.

Heirloom varieties grow true from seed, and are still propagated by many home gardeners and seed companies. Many people argue that the new hybrid varieties, bred for size and yield, have overlooked taste, and that the flavor of heirloom varieties is far superior. Heirlooms do present greater variety, but typically have lower yields and lower disease resistance.

The top tomato producing country in the world is the United States. Florida, California, and Georgia are the top commercial producing states. There are an estimated 35 million backyard gardeners in the United States growing tomatoes. Each person in this country consumed an average of 18.8 pounds of tomatoes in the last yearly estimate made. Tomatoes are one of the most important sources of vitamins and minerals in our diet. And, where would we be without ketchup, tomato sauce, salsa, sliced tomatoes, and tomato soup? What would pizza be like without tomato sauce?

Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable?

Botanically, tomatoes are fruits, actually berries, as they develop from an ovary; but in 1893, the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, came down on the side of vegetables. Judge Horace Gray wrote the decision, saying,