There have been considerable efforts to preserve old varieties of apples and pears. Some were worth saving, some not so much. However, there are some more recent varieties that have seen some slippage.
Earliblaze
This is an awesome eating and culinary early apple. It attains good size. The only issue one might object to is they drop they day they’re ripe. This is great for busy people. Not so good if you have deer issues. King David x Duchess of O parentage. It was always referred to as a McIntosh type apple. My father grew this tree, and I did as well when we lived in NE of Raleigh NC. This was a Stark Bros product.
Blushing Golden
This apple is becoming very hard find. 39th Parallel still sells scions. This used to be sold at Starks. I’ve never tried this one, but an apple with Winesap x Golden D parentage is a no brainer. Another dated Stark Bros product. I will be adding this one in 2026.
Bartlett Red Max Pear
My father grew this one. It did have blight issues like a typical Barlett, but the pears on this were OMG. The flesh was smooth as velvet, it was so sweet and juicy, and so refined. The leaves had burgundy stems and the fruit were a solid burgundy color. This pear was discovered as a red sport on a regular Bartlett and was exclusively sold at Millers Nursery which was absorbed by Stark Bros.
Jonalicious
This one isn’t at risk of dying yet. It’s known for being exceptionally fire blight resistant. It was thought to be a Jonathon x Delicious cross, but it’s been confirmed as a King David x Delicious cross. This is good parentage. I’m giving this one serious consideration due to FB resistance. This should be on the radar of southern growers.
The innerwebs say that this is is just a Red Bartlett which is not uncommon.
Earliblaze was discovered in Illinois in 1949. Stark Bros commercialized it in 1958, and stopped selling it in 2011.
Tough call on this one ‘fading away’… it had a good run it appears… not sure its a standout compared to the other choices available though.
I think the newer generations will not be as enthused with ‘old’ cultivars as the current living population is.
I think we are at the apex of being able to obtain the myriad of things to grow from brambles to peaches to plums, mulberries and on and on.
There are so many new things out that its almost impossible to sort if one wants the newest or the oldest. Some folks are shying away from plums towards plumcots… Whereas the newest pears such as Bell has zero talk. Probably right now folks are growing SweeTango, Envy and Cosmic Crisp seeds hoping that they are the same. Asian pears have more traction than Euro pears as far as i can see with what people have interest in.
Probably my two favorite pears are Anjou and Bosc… when i posted about them nothing but crickets.
Studebaker and Packard have long long faded away but there are a few folks still keeping the flame lit.
Im thankful that there are still folks keeping some of the old varieties still going as far as fruit goes… but of course its a capitalist society and what doesnt sell will likely fade all the way away.
As far as apples go… im not sure the last time i saw anyone on here post about growing Red Delicious apples… yet it is sold just about at every nursery let alone box store. Im not sure who would pick a bag to buy at a grocery store over all the other choices… yet the bags are still there.
Inertia seems to be a thing for fruits that become extremely popular. Once they start to decline, it takes years for them to slip into obscurity. As for Red Delicious, I will sometimes buy a bag. Occasionally, usually for a couple of weeks in the fall, I can find really good apples. After that, they are bland, bitter, or develop off flavors. Of course, the original Red Delicious is still around and it is a good flavored apple.
I am buying Jonalicious as a pollination partner for Edward VII. Starting in PG 5 there are ever dwindling multipurpose varieties heading into groups 6 and 7. Although Cort Pendu Plat is in PG6. Mostly uncommon cider apples toward the ending groups. There is also Blanc Durel.
I remember all those varieties from Stark. Miller Brothers Nursery had some interesting varieties they carried. Once Stark Brothers bought them up they all but disappeared. I had bought a couple of the Miller Brothers varieties back in the day. One was the Red Max pear. Like you said it was delicious. I am not a huge pear fan but that one was a variety I enjoyed each time it produced fruit.
My oldest apple tree was Jonalicious until I cut it down last winter. It was planted in the late 70’s. Storm damage over the years and the trunk finally rotted out sealed its fate. A good all around apple with excellent fireblight resistance. Late summer rots were a problem if not sprayed full season long. I planted a new one from Century Farm last year.
Tried Blushing Golden grown in North Carolina mountains many years ago and it didn’t make an impression on me to want to grow it.