© Copyright 2025 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- [Collection of letterheads, stationery, and form letters of pharmaceutical firms and related businesses, United States and Canada]
- Description
- Collection of letterheads and stationery from the late 19th century containing decorative and ornate lettering, ornamented type, vignette illustrations, and pictorial details. Illustrations depict trademarks, including Mishhler's Herb Bitters anchor of "Hope"; exteriors of factories and storefronts (some including signage); druggists rubber goods, including a bulb syringe and atomizer; and the waiting room and exam room of a dental office. Some of the exterior views include patrons entering buildings, street and pedestrian traffic, as well as laborers at work. View of New York Sumac Extract Company factory complex (20 Cedar Street) also shows a ship docked at the factory pier. Pictorial details include a phoenix, quarter moon, banners, mortar & pestle, frames, filigree and flourishes. Firms represented include Naph B. Greensfelder & Co. (San Francisco, Ca.); New York Sumac Extract Company (Long Island City, N.Y.); Rev. Jasper Marx Medicines (Jersey City, N.J.); Richardson Drug Company, Omaha (Salt Lake City, Ut.); S. B. Hartman & Co, Office of Eastern Laboratory and Wholesale Depot (Lancaster, Pa.); R.H. Mcdonald & Co. (San Francisco, Ca.); Smith, Kline & French Co. (Philadelphia, Pa.); Smith & Prime (Ausable Forks, N.Y.); Spink & Co. (Minneapolis, Minn.); H.N. Stratton (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Judson B. Todd (Ithaca, N.Y.); Tyer Rubber Company (Andover, Ma.); Westlake & McIntyre (Grand Rapids, Mi.); Whitall, Tatum & Co. (Philadelphia); Wm. H. Armstrong & Co. (Indianapolis, Ind.); and G. F. Witter (Grand Rapids, Wis.). Correspondence relates to product orders and fees, solicitations for business, and payments. credits, and payment disputes., Correspondents include Parchen-D'Acheul Drug Co.; Brooks R. Webber; R. B. Hutchings; H.M. Parchen & Co.; Samuel Newton; S. B. Hartman & Co.; H. R. Sands & Co.; R. H. McDonald & Co.; Polk Miller Drug Co.; F.M. Hopkins Sons; Henry A. Kerste; C.W. Prindell; Leonard Kellar; and Henry Bartry., Printers and engravers include Seifert & Lawton, Milwaukee; Baker-Randolph Litho. & Eng. Co. Chicago; and [George W.?] Mills., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand.
- Date
- [ca. 1860-ca. 1896]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Popular Medicine Stationery Collection - Letterheads & Stationery (N-Z) [P.2011.46.464-479]
- Title
- [William H. Helfand graphic popular medicine stationery collection]
- Description
- Collection of stationery, primarily illustrated and typographical letterheads, billheads, and form letters, of pharmaceutical firms and related businesses and institutions in the United States (predominantly New York City, New York, Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania) issued between circa 1840 and 1935. Subjects include invoices and receipts, shipping arrangements and fees, product orders, payments and payment disputes. Firms, businesses, and institutions well represented include James S. Aspinwall; William P. Blanding; L. N. Brunswig; Caswell, Massey & Co.; C.J. Lincoln Co.; College of Pharmacy of the City of New York; Geo. C. Goodwin & Co.; Hall & Ruckel; Dr. William A. Hammond's Sanitarium; Hopkins-Weller Drug Co.; James Baily & Son; J. D. Marshall & Bros. (D. Marshall & Bro.); J. L. Lyons & Co.; A. M. Knowlson; Lanman & Kemp; McKesson & Robbins; Nichols & Harris; P. D. Orvis; S. R. Van Duzer; Wells, Richardson & Co. (Wells & Richardson Co.); Wilson Drug Co.; and W. J. Gilmore & Co. Philadelphia firms represented include A.W. Wright & Co.; Barker, Moore, Mein; Bean & Stevenson; Browning & Brothers; C.H. Butterworth & Co.; Robert Shoemaker & Co.; W.H. Schieffelin & Co.; and Strother Drug Co. Collection also contains several pieces of stationery of firms in New England, including Massachussetts (particularly Boston), Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island; the Mid-West, including Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota; and the South, including Louisiana (particularly New Orleans), Virginia, and Tennessee. A small number of items also represent businesses in the Western United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. A song sheet, envelope, and stereograph also form the collection., Illustrations depict various subjects. The most numerous are views of pharmaceutical factories and storefronts, often including street and pedestrian traffic. Imagery also depicts pharmaceutical apparatus and trademarks, including mortars and pestles; medical supplies, including trusses; allegorical scenes; heraldry; and art nouveau pictorial details and designs. Other illustrations show medieval apothecaries; the interiors of a pharmacy and dental office; and the mythical creature phoenix., Title supplied by cataloger., Various engravers, printers, and publishers, including Smith Bros.; Gast; A. Hoen & Co.; Collier & Cleveland; Craig, Butt, & Finley; Calvert Lithographing Co.; Snyder & Black; Detroit Litho. Co.; American Bank Note Company; Gies & Co.; Strobridge & Co.; E. Weber; Craig, Finley & Co.; G. H. Dunston; and Wm. H. Brett & Co., Majority of the billheads, letterheads, and form letters completed in manuscript or type and contain manuscript and typewritten notes on recto and verso., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., Digitized for AMD: Popular Medicine. Series I.
- Date
- [ca. 1840-1935, bulk 1870-1890]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Graphic Popular Medicine Stationery Collection [P.2011.46]

