B.C.'s history becomes song thanks to folk trio Tiller's Folly

For the past 28 years, folk trio Tiller’s Folly has told significant tales of B.C. history via its nine albums of singalong songs.

With the release of their latest tune, Apple Box Belles, the band honours a proud moment in the past and life in the present day.

Apple Box Belles recounts the story of Okanagan fruit orchards during the period from 1914-1918. With many of the region’s service-aged men shipped off to fight in the First World War, their jobs were taken up by local women. One of the prime crops was apples, which needed manual sorting and packing.

The women who did this work were dubbed Apple Box Belles, which inspired the song’s title.

Apple packing competitions were regularly held across the colonies to showcase packers’ skills. In 1937, Kelowna’s Isobel Stillingfleet was