Title |
Harris, George S. |
Alternate title |
Geo. S. Harris & Son |
|
Geo. S. Harris & Sons |
Date |
1823-July 7, 1891 |
Description |
George S. Harris, born 1823 in Bridgeton, New Jersey, worked in Philadelphia as a lithographic and letterpress printer, producing
lithographic trade cards, can and cigar box labels, circulars, calendars and stamped envelopes between 1847 and 1891. Although
trained in law, Harris pursued printing and opened his own job and fancy card printing establishment ca. 1847 at 119 North
Fourth Street. By 1848 Harris already owned and operated a Ruggles' small card press, which "attract[ed] the attention of
visitors [sic] by its handiwork," and in 1854, he relocated his company to the southeast corner of Fourth and Vine Streets
(a building he later replaced to accommodate growing operations). By 1867 his firm had an estimated worth of $25,000 according
to his credit report where Harris was consistently cited as "prompt" and "reliable."
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His eldest son, George T. Harris (b. January 1851), became a partner in 1872, followed by his younger sons William T. (b.
ca. 1856) in 1880 and Frank S. (b. ca. 1861) in 1889. In 1882, Geo. S. Harris & Sons moved into a seven-story, "iron front"
building erected for the company at 718-724 Arch Street, where by the end of the 1880s the company operated the largest lithographic
firm in the city, with about 600 employees producing items for patrons worldwide. Geo. S. Harris & Sons also produced a plethora
of trade cards in addition to chromolithographed advertising calendars with genre scenes for its own business, including an
1886 calendar containing a whimsical scene of a woman at a masquerade ball.
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In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Harris was also a director of the Mantua Land and Improvement Company. Geo. S. Harris &
Sons remained on Arch Street until George S.'s death on July 7, 1891, at which time his estate was appraised at $439,624 with
his firm at $400,000. His sons managed the company for approximately ten years, until partnering with Joseph Knapp to form
the New-York based American Lithographic Company.
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Harris resided in the Northern Liberties Ward of Philadelphia early in his career in the 1850s, and remained north of Market
Street after marrying Annie M. (b. ca. 1827) and starting a family. In 1860, they lived in Ward 12 and in 1870 Ward 13. By
1880 they lived at 650 North Fifteenth Street in Ward 15; the family's residence at the time of George S. Harris's death on
July 8, 1891 in Atlantic City. A "cottager" in that city for many years, Harris died while driving in a carriage at Chelsea.
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Is part of |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
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Portrait from Joseph Jackson, "Some Notes Towards a History of Lithography in Philadelphia." (Philadelphia, 1900) |
Has format |
HSP-GeoSHarris-Jackson-LithInPhila.jpg |
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FLP-Harris-Phila-Lithographers.jpg |
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FLP-Harris-Phila-Lithographers2.jpg |
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LCP-Harris-BW-Advertisements-P-9349-406.jpg |
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LCP-Tradecards-Harris-5786-F-163b.jpg |
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Smithsonian-ArchivesCenter-Harris.jpg |
Call number |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
Bibliographic citation |
Census 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 |
|
Last, 92-95 |
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Last, "Trade Card Lithographers Geo. S. Harris of Philadelphia" in The Advertising Trade Card Quarterly (Winter 1998), 26-27. |
|
Library Company of Philadelphia research file |
|
National Lithographer, July 1913, 48-49 |
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Pennsylvania, Vol. 131, p. 284, R.G. Dun & Co. Collection, microfilm, Hagley Museum & Library |
|
Peters, 204 |
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Philadelphia Inquirer October 20, 1848; June 19, 1882; July 8, 1891; July 10, 1891 and August 27, 1891 |
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South Jersey Republican December 5, 1863 |
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Trades League of Philadelphia, The City of Philadelphia as it Appears in 1894, second edition (Philadelphia: Geo. S. Harris
& Sons, 1894), 248
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Image file |
HSP-GeoSHarris-Jackson-LithInPhila |
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FLP-Harris-Phila-Lithographers |
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FLP-Harris-Phila-Lithographers2 |
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LCP-Harris-BW-Advertisements-P-9349-406 |
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LCP-Tradecards-Harris-5786-F-163b |
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Smithsonian-ArchivesCenter-Harris |