Allen v. Whiting

The facts necessary for a determination of the case are not in dispute, and may be stated thus: Plaintiff conducts its business as follows: It purchases materials already cut to proper size for the making of wooden containers for lettuce, cantaloupes, and the like, in order to prepare them for shipment. It then sells this material as received, or as made up by it in containers suitable for packing, to its customers. These customers are engaged in the growing, packing and selling of agricultural products, principally lettuce and cantaloupes. These products, when prepared and packed, are distributed in all parts of the United States, through brokers and commission agents, until they finally reach the tables of the ultimate consumers. The crates pass with the products along the line of distribution until they reach the point at which their contents are to be sold in less than crate lots, and are then disposed of by the last seller as junk.