Shown here is a cranberry picking bucket from Fuller-Hammond Co., accompanied by the original hanging tag that came with it.

The company’s history reaches back to the early twentieth century and to Albert H. Fuller and cranberry grower Irving C. Hammond. Contemporary records use several closely related company names. Fuller’s obituary identifies him as president of the Smith, Fuller & Hammond Cranberry Co., while cranberry-industry records state that the Smith-Hammond Cranberry Company was organized in 1904 and Fuller-Hammond Co. followed in 1905 with the same officers. After Fuller’s death in 1926, Hammond became president and general manager of both companies. A later industry history remembered Hammond as one of the country’s most successful cranberry growers and noted that he managed hundreds of acres of cranberry property. (Wikimedia Commons)

Fuller-Hammond continued as a family-connected cranberry enterprise for generations. The family ultimately sold the remainder of the business in 1996, bringing to a close roughly nine decades of Fuller-Hammond cranberry growing. Even in 1996, longtime employee Thelma K. Behring was remembered as having worked for Fuller-Hammond Cranberry Co. for 65 years, eventually serving as assistant treasurer and vice president—an indication of the remarkable continuity of the company and the people connected with it. (GenealogyBuff)

The Fuller-Hammond family became major figures in the Massachusetts cranberry industry, with a story extending far beyond a single bog. Their history intersects with the development of the cranberry business on a national scale and with names that became central to that industry, including Ocean Spray and the A.D. Makepeace Company. Period cranberry-industry publications place Fuller-Hammond alongside A.D. Makepeace and other major Massachusetts growers, while historic property records document Fuller-Hammond cranberry holdings in communities including Wareham and Carver. (Flickr)

The Mayflower Descendants Museum will explore the Fuller-Hammond family’s cranberry enterprise, the workers and communities connected with the bogs, the development of commercial cranberry growing in Massachusetts, and the remarkable network of people and companies that helped shape an important chapter of American agricultural history.

Holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum

Photo credit: Ed Nute, Plymouth, Massachusetts. The final image has been cropped by the Mayflower Descendants Museum’s founder.

Sources and Further Reading

Cranberries: The National Cranberry Magazine — historical coverage of Irving C. Hammond, Fuller-Hammond Co., and the development of the Massachusetts cranberry industry.
View digitized issues

Albert H. Fuller obituary — contemporary newspaper account identifying Fuller as president of Smith, Fuller & Hammond Cranberry Co. and documenting his role in Brockton business and civic life.

Heritage Museums & Gardens — Bountiful Bogs: The Massachusetts Cranberry Story. Historical interpretation of the Massachusetts cranberry industry, including Fuller-Hammond workers and cranberry-growing history.
Explore the exhibition