Search results

Title: B.T. Creighton, chemist & pharmacist, N.E. cor. 3rd & Washington Ave., Phila Prescriptions compounded at all hours of day or night, from pure drugs, at reasonable prices and only by graduates in pharmacy
Description: Trade card promoting druggist B.T. Creighton and depicting a rectangular paddle fan. In the left, shows the hand-held fan decorated in red, blue, white, and gold with a butterfly. Stems of leaves behind the fan., Title from item., Date inferred from active date of advertised business., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - C [P.9828.5698]

Title: Geo. F. Woods, druggist and apothecary, dealer in fancy goods, Bellows Falls, Ct Soda and mineral waters on draught and in package
Description: Trade card promoting druggist George F. Woods and depicting a fan with a scene of a woman carrying a watering can and walking down a path. In the top left shows a fan with a ribbon tied around bamboo handle. On the fan is a vignette shows a woman, attired in a brimmed hat, necklace, and dress, walking down a path. She holds skirt in her left hand and carries a watering can in her right hand. Flanking the path are vases full of flowers. In the background is a pagoda and trees., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., See related: P.9828.7149-7150., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Woods [P.9828.7151]

Title: Wanamaker’s ladies’ & gents’ dining rooms, 42 N. 8th St., bel. Arch, Geo. W. Wanamaker
Description: Trade card promoting Wanamaker's restaurant and depicting a Chinese man serving tea to a Chinese man and woman on a balcony. In the left, the man, wearing his hair in a queue and attired in a cap, long-sleeved tunic, pants, and black, slip-on shoes, hands a steaming cup and saucer of tea to a seated man. The man, wearing a mustache and attired in a cap and long-sleeved robe, sits holding a paper in his left hand and rests his feet on a footrest. In the right, the Chinese woman, wearing her hair up in a bun and with decorative pins and attired in a long-sleeved dress with a collar, sits and holds a fan in her left hand. A building is visible in the background., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of the lithographer and advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: Wanamaker’s ladies’ and gents’ dining rooms, 823 Market St., & 42 S. Second St., Philadelphia. Geo. W. Wanamaker, Prop’r. [Over.], RVCDC
Creator: Craig, Finley & Co.
Date: [1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Wanamaker's [P.2015.56.919]

Title: Compliments of John Westney, agt. Manufacturer and dealer in baby carriages, velocipedes, bicycles &c, 226 Dock St Phila. Repairing promptly attended to
Description: Trade card promoting carriage manufacturer John Westney and showing a fairy depicted as a caricature of an Asian girl. The barefooted girl, with wings, is attired in a hat; a short-sleeved white dress with red trim, a black bow on the bodice, and blue and gold decoration on the skirt; and a multi-colored, patterned sash around the waist. She juts her left foot forward, holds a fan in her right hand, and grasps a flowering branch in her left hand., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised., Text printed on verso illustrated with image of a boy, attired in a sailor suit and cap, driving a skulky with a toy horse: The Tally Ho Sulky. (Patented) The Tally Ho Sulky is suitable for either boy or girl. The small size from 4 to 10 years, and the large from 8 to 18 years of age. It is the most pleasing, healthful, and practical toy of the motor kind. It has the rowing motion, being driven by the arms and steered by the feet; moves easily and is capable of great speed. It can be used in the street or in an ordinary sized room. It is strongly made and durable. For sale by John Westney, agt. 226 Dock Street, Philadelphia., Purchased 2015.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Westney [P.2015.56.937]

Title: Pooh-Bah
Description: Racist trade card promoting thread manufacturer J. & P. Coats and depicting a character from The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, the opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the white man actor in character as Pooh-Bah. He stands holding a closed fan and frowns. He wears his hair in a chonmage hairstyle and is attired in a blue and white patterned kimono with birds with a red obi and has a sword at his waist. An oversized spool of thread labeled, "J & P. Coats 200 yds 50 best six cord," is in the right. Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title from item., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: I'am so proud, if I allowed, my family pride, to be my guide, you'd never hear, within your ear, Coats six cord thread, stand at the head, but family pride, must be denied, and set aside, and mortified, and so you hear, within your ear, Coats six cord thread, stands at the head., Advertising text printed on verso: White, black and colors for hand and machine. J & P. Coats' Best Six Cord Thread., Stamped on verso: W. Otis Hall, Retail Fancy Goods, Washington Street. Boston, Mass.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade Cards - J. & P. Coats [P.2024.38.3]

Title: [Asian decorative motifs]
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting Asian decorative motifs, including bamboo, a crane, and a fan. In the left a dragonfly flies over a stalk of bamboo. In the center is a large Asian character, possibly meant to be Chinese, surrounded by a geometric border. In the right, a crane stands on one leg among reeds and a hand-held fan is spread open., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on medium and content., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Misc [1975.F.1034]

Title: John Griffeth. Furniture warerooms, 119 N. Second St., Philad'a, PA A full assortment of chamber and parlor suits, mattresses and bedding, &c
Description: Trade card promoting John Griffeth's furniture store and depicting Asian decorative motifs and objects, including fans, a parasol, cranes, and mountains. Shows vignettes of: a parasol and two fans in a blue and white porcelain container; two standing cranes, one eating a frog; and two mountain peaks. John Griffeth established his furniture business in 1880., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised., Purchased 2015.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Griffeth [P.2015.56.316]

Title: Japan
Description: Trade card promoting coffee manufacturers Arbuckle Brothers and depicting Japanese men acrobats, jugglers, and dancers in a festival. In the left, shows a Japanese man acrobat wearing a chonmage hairstyle, a white headband, a pink kimono, and pink pants. He balances upside down on a flagpole with a pink banner and holds a fan in his right hand. In the right, a Japanese man, wearing a blue kimono, juggles a bottle and bowls. In the center is a fan with a vignette depicting three barefooted Japanese men, attired in black hats, yellow shirts, and blue pants, dancing holding branches. A Japanese man stands, attired in a black hat and green shirt, and holds a pink banner on a pole. Arbuckle's Coffee was founded by brothers John and Charles Arbuckle following the Civil War. The company was one of the first to sell roasted coffee and to place it in one pound packages. Arbuckle often included trade cards in the packages., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright, 1893, by Arbuckle Bros. N.Y., Series no. on verso: No. 34., Advertising text on verso: Grind your coffee at home…. Japan. The Japanese have the most advance civilization of any nation on Asiatic soil. Indeed in some regards they are even more advanced than the proudest of western countries. But in many ways they are ludicrously far behind. They cling to ancient forms of government and the Mikado is an autocrat, absolute almost over the life and death of his subjects. A country which yields such power to the individual, can never hope to work out its highest possibilities. So even the sports and pastimes of such a nation can never be the spontaneous expression of the animal spirits of the young of that land. Juggling is a fine art in Japan. Beside the Japanese juggler, the man of legerdemain of other countries is a clumsy bungler. The feats performed by the former are beyond all comparison. To achieve such dexterity, it may well be presumed that the wizard has been taught from earliest childhood. In fact the jugglers are sometimes a caste, so that the child often starts with the hereditary traits of forefather in the same line, and of the added experience of these. Of the acrobats of Japan who are also super-eminent much the same can be said. One would scarcely believe that the human body could be so sinuous and might be so contorted at will. The Japanese Festivals or Feasts are frequent. The main celebrations are held after dark; then fireworks are displayed, and lanterns are hung. These latter transform the most commonplace scenes into fairyland. The dancing indulged in on these occasions in most picturesque. As the figures flit from light into dark and back again, they form scenes never to be forgotten. The Japanese wrestlers are world-famed, and their contests are most skillful. This is one of a series of Fifty (50) cards giving a pictorial History of Sports and Pastimes of all Nations., RVCDC
Date: 1893
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Arbuckle [P.2025.35.1]

Title: Centennial Exhibition Souvenir Fan
Description: Souvenir fan commemorating the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. Folding fan with thirty blades including guards. Shows the Main Building at Fairmount Park, designed by Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson. Numerous men and women visitors walk the grounds in front of the building. A Japanese woman, wearing her hair up with Kanzashi hair decorations, and attired in a pink, blue, and red kimono, stands holding a fan. Red roses grow at her feet. In the right, a Japanese woman, wearing her hair up and attired in a blue, red, and pink kimono, holds a red fan in her left hand, and in her right hand she holds the hand of a young Japanese boy, attired in a yellow and red kimono. The verso depicts a bird perched on a branch with pink and red flowers, and the silhouette of two birds against a blue background. Text printed across the top lists the names and addresses of Philadelphia hotels: “Irving House. 817 Walnut St.; Guy’s. Cor. 7th St. and Chestnut; Colonnade. Cor. 15th St. and Chestnut; St. Cloud. 709 Arch St.; La Pierre. Broad St. Below Chestnut; Girard. Corner Ninth and Chestnut; Continental. Corner Ninth & Chestnut; Bingham. Corner 11th St. and Market St.; American. 517 Chestnut St.; Merchant’s. 42 North 4th St.; Washington. 711 Chestnut St.; Markoe. 919 Chestnut St.” Additional text includes, “Main Building, International Exhibition. Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 1876. Length 1880 feet. Width 464.”, Gift of Linda Kimiko August, 2023.
Date: [ca. 1876]
Location: OBJ 924

Title: The Gale costume lectures music and myth of old Japan
Description: Program for "Music and Myth of Old Japan," performed by Albert Gale and Martha Brockway Gale as a part of their lecture series. On the cover, shows Albert Gale "drawn by a Japanese artist" wearing a chonmage hairstyle and attired in a kimono and holding a fan in his right hand. On pages two and three are photographs of Albert and Martha, attired in kimonos, acting in scenes from the performance. In the left, the image titled "posing" shows Albert kneeling and playing a shamisen as Martha stands on one leg and holds a fan behind her head. "Ready for guests" depicts Martha holding her hands up with a fan in her right hand. "Salutation" shows Albert and Martha facing each other in a deep bow. In the top center, "the stage setting" depicts Albert and Martha kneeling surrounded by Japanese objects, including screens, parasols, and a potted flower. In the right, "magic" shows Albert standing with his left hand out and holding a fan in his right hand as Martha kneels and looks up at him. "Ready for the street" shows Martha standing and holding a parasol. "'Ikebana (flower arrangement)'" shows Martha kneeling and placing flowers into a vase. Drawings in between the photographs include: a Japanese boy, attired in a kimono, with his back to the viewer and holding a kite shaped as a fish as a bird flies; vases filled with flowers; and a bird. On page four are bust-length portraits of Albert and Martha attired in Western dress. There are drawings of a landscape view with ships and a mountain and a Japanese woman, attired in a kimono, carrying a baby on her back., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of the stage production., Manuscript note written on cover: "Given under auspices of Senior class [extras?]. In Town Hall Wed. eve., Dec. 13. 1913. Adm. 50¢ Student 25¢. R.L.M., Text printed on cover: Elaborate stage setting of handsome Japanese draperies, rich costumes of Oriental silks and gold brocade, priceless musical instruments from the Buddhist and Shinto Temples, fascinating fold-tales interwoven with seductive melody, a glimpse of the queer and quaint customs of the "little brown people," the art-life of a strange, poetic race revealed. It takes you away from the commonplace and transports you to a wonderland of fancy - a land of myths and mystics., Contents: Program: Mythological birth of the fairyland of Nippon (Japan) - Kimigayo (the National Anthem of Japan) - The Music of a race the expression of its character - Banzai march - Japanese scales - The Shakuhachi - Oiwaki - Oiwaki (harmonized) - Shen Nen (New Year's song) - The Sono koto - Hime Matsu - Legend of the Koto - Legend of the bells - Costumes - Shin-fa-diu (Chinese melody) - Sumera-Mikuni (patriotic Japanese melody) - The Theater orchestra - Percussive instruments of wood - The Hioshigi - Riu-kiu-bushi (Formosan air) - A Buddhist prayer - Drums - Sakura (cherry tree) - The Hichiriki - Musical frogs and beetles. No intermission. Part II. A short scene from Japanese home-life, given entirely in the Japanese language, introducing home devotions to ancestors, flower arrangement, tea-drinking, posing to music and Japanese magic., Albert Gale (1870-1952) was a musicologist who described himself as a "ethnologist of music." His wife, Martha Brockway Gale, was a vocalist and choral director. Together they toured the country, including Philadelphia, giving lectures and recitals starting around 1906 on Native American, Chinese, and Japanese music and culture. Gale never traveled to Japan. He took lessons on Japanese and Chinese instruments from Japanese musicians in Seattle.
Creator: Gale Printing Co., engraver
Date: [ca. 1913]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *ephemera -- Misc. - Gale [P.2025.26]

Title: W.F. Potteiger, druggist, N.W. corner Fourth and Spruce Streets, Reading, PA
Description: Trade card promoting pharmacist William F. Potteiger and depicting a white woman attired in a kimono, probably an actress in character from the opera The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the woman wearing her hair up and decorated with fans and attired in a blue kimono with gold cranes, peach-colored obi, and purple skirt. She holds a peach-colored fan in her right hand and turns her head to the right with her left hand up. She stands on a fur rug., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of the advertised business., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1886]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Potteiger [P.9828.6624]

Title: Compliments of R.B. Porter, druggist, St. Johnsville, N.Y
Description: Trade card promoting druggist Reuben B. Porter and depicting a white woman attired in a kimono dressed as a character from the opera The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the woman wearing her hair up and decorated with fans and attired in a red and gold kimono. She sits on the branch of a red flower and holds a blue fan in her left hand. A white butterfly flies in the left., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of advertised business., Series no. on recto: 686., Manuscript written on verso: Nora Enlenmarks., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., See related: P.9828.332; P.9828.1679; P.9828.4244; P.9828.5299; P.9828.5852-5854., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Porter [P.9828.6622]

Title: Geo. F. Woods, druggist and apothecary, dealer in fancy goods, Bellows Falls, Ct Soda and mineral waters on draught and in package
Description: Trade cards promoting druggist George F. Woods and depicting an Asian man looking at a statue of an Asian woman in a park. Shows an Asian man, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a conical hat, patterned tunic and matching pants, and shoes. He stands behind a fence and looks at a statue of a barefooted woman, wearing a headpiece and attired in a sarong with her breasts exposed, on a pedestal. She holds a fan with a long handle in her right hand and gestures with her left hand. Also visible are a palm tree, potted plant, and a path., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., See related: P.9828.7151., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Wood [P.9828.7149-7150]

Title: Major E. Newell, with Genl. Tom Thumb's Museum. H.R. Jacobs, manager
Description: Die cut trade card in the shape of a painting palette. Promotes General Tom Thumb's Museum, a variety company tour, and depicts Edmund Newell, known as Major E. Newell, attired in four costumes. In the top, shows Newell in yellowface impersonating a Chinese man, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a blue tunic and pants and black cloth slip-on shoes. He lifts his left leg up; places his right hand on his hip; and holds a red fan in his left hand. Tom Thumb, born Charles Sherwood Stratton, and Edmund Newell, also known as Major E. Newell and General Grant Jr., were people with dwarfism who toured with P.T. Barnum. Newell married Minnie Warren, whose sister, Lavinia Warren, was married to Tom Thumb., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Advertising text printed on verso: General Tom Thumb and his charming little wife with entire troupe. Horticultural Hall positively two weeks only Sept. 25 to Oct. 7th. Every afternoon & evening. Skatorial champion. Major Newell, the impersonator; Zoe Meleke, and her performing canary birds; Whiston, humorist and great facial artist; marvelous midget; Bingham, ventriloquist & illusionist with a congress of brilliants., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Horticultural [1975.F.651]

Title: Sharpless & Sons, Philadelphia
Description: Trade card promoting dry goods merchant Sharpless & Sons and depicting a Chinese boy sitting on an oversized fan. Shows the boy, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a blue robe with red trim and a green sash around the waist, green stockings, and slip-on shoes, sitting with his back to the viewer on a large fan. The gold hand fan is decorated with a bird and flowers. Chinese characters are written in the left. Sharpless & Sons were importers, jobbers, and retailers of dry goods that operated from 801, 803, 805, & 807 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Purchased 2015., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Sharpless [P.2015.56.774]

Title: The Mikado
Description: Racist trade card promoting thread manufacturer J. & P. Coats and depicting a character from The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, the opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the white man actor in character as the Mikado, or Emperor. He stands holding a closed fan and smiles at the viewer attired in a headpiece, a blue kimono decorated with gold birds and flowers and red trim, with a sword at his waist. An oversized spool of thread labeled, "J & P. Coats 200 yds 50 best six cord," is in the right. Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title from item., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: My object all sublime! Shall attain in time. To let the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime. All people who have to do sewing and don't use Coats' six cord thread, will be punished with cotton that's snarly and rotten and kinks, till they wish they were dead., Advertising text printed on verso: White, black and colors for hand and machine. J & P. Coats' Best Six Cord Thread.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade Cards - J. & P. Coats [P.2024.38.1]

Title: A high caste lady's dainty "lily feet" - as they really are - China
Description: Stereograph depicting a Chinese woman's feet on display. Shows the woman from the waist down attired in a tunic and pants with stripes at the bottom. She holds a closed fan in her hands on her lap. Her bare feet are exhibited on a cloth-covered box. The left foot points to the viewer, while the right foot is shown from the side displaying the heel and the toes bent over the arch. A newspaper in English is draped behind her legs., Beige mount with rounded corners., Contains Sun Sculpture trademark on mount., Title printed on mount., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1900 by Underwood & Underwood., Title printed in six different languages, including French, German, and Spanish on verso., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
Creator: Underwood & Underwood
Date: 1900
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Underwood & Underwood [P.2023.43.4]

Title: A Japanese family. A pretty and interesting cut-out
Description: Print depicting a Japanese man, boy, and two women, which could be cut out and made into a paper toy. In the left, shows a Japanese woman attired in a red kimono with green trim tied with a black and yellow obi and wearing her hair up and adorned with a kanzashi hair ornament. She looks left with her left hand at her waist and holds a fan in her right hand. In the right at her feet are white flowers. The Japanese man wears a chonmage hairstyle, which is shaved in the front with a top knot, and is attired in a blue, green, and white kimono and slip on shoes, and has a sword in a scabbard at his waist. He stands with his face in right profile. In the top right, the boy, attired in a white and red kimono and socks, sits on the ground beside a white flower. In the bottom right, a Japanese woman, attired in a blue kimono with gray trim tied with a black obi and wearing her hair up and adorned with a kanzashi hair ornament, sits on the floor with her left hand resting on her leg and her right hand up. She is surrounded by two vases, a black stand with a teapot on top, and a decorative screen depicting a bird. In the top center, shows a diagram depicting how the figures could be cut out and flaps used to stand them upright., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1910, by the North American Company., Published in the March 6, 1910 Sunday supplement of the North American newspaper., Text printed on recto: Directions: Paste this sheet upon a sheet of heavy cardboard: let it dry thoroughly, and cut out pieces around heavy black lines. To make figures stand, bend the flabs backward at the dotted lines, A, B, C, D, E, F, as in the diagram. When ready, stand the figures up and arrange to suit yourself., RVCDC, Larry Semon (1889-1928) worked as a cartoonist for Philadelphia and New York newspapers before becoming an actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era.
Creator: Semon, Larry, 1889-1928
Date: 1910
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC- Paper toys - Japanese [P.2024.71.2]

Title: Lloyd O. Woodruff, druggist. Cor. Broadway & Point St., Cape Vincent, N.Y. Don’t read the other side
Description: Racist trade card promoting pharmacist Lloyd O. Woodruff and depicting actress Kate Forster dressed in character as Pitti-Sing from the opera, The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows Forster wearing her hair up and attired in a blue kimono with gold decorations and a gold, flower-patterned obi. She holds a fan in both hands behind her head. Kate Forster, whose real name was Kate Jancowski, worked for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and performed as Pitti-Sing and Katisha in the Mikado in 1885-1886, 1889-1902. Lloyd O. Woodruff opened a drugstore in Cape Vincent, New York circa 1870., Title stamped on recto., Date deduced from dates of the performance., Text printed on verso: Lloyd O. Woodruff, druggist, keeps a full line of drugs, patent medicines, paints, oils, window glass, dry goods, boots, shoes and rubbers, fine stationery, school books, fancy groceries, watches, chains, plated ware, crockery, and will not be undersold, if you do not see what you want at his store, ask for it. Don’t forget the place, Cor. Broadway & Point St., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC, See related: P.9828.2769-2771; P.9828.2823.
Date: [ca. 1886]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists -Woodruff [P.9828.7139]

Title: Scrapbook
Description: Scrapbook compiled by Philadelphia socialite Minnie Campbell Wilson (neé Harris) containing primarily place, greeting, holiday and calling cards predominantly issued in the United Kingdom and the Northeast United States. Majority of the cards are printed and or chromolithographs, with a small number illustrated with drawings by hand. Many cards also contain ornate border details, embossing, and adornments, including ribbons, fringe, lace, a wishbone, and overlays. Contents also include die-cuts of fans, horse shoes, a spoon, a flamingo, one-quarter moon, a woman’s leg, and a bird as a cover for a H. O. Neill & Co. illustrated hat catalog. Cards often depict sentimental and genre imagery including cupids, butterflies, flowers, vases and baskets; religious, historical and Asian-themed scenes, figures and/or decor; seasonal landscape views; women, children, and costumed figures; animals, including birds, chicks, dogs, and cats; and fruit. Other imagery includes two witches flying on brooms holding a "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" banner; London printer William Dickes series of women in native costume from Switzerland, Russia, and Norway; a holiday card that opens to a sledding scene of children holding letters spelling "Merry Christmas"; and a Valentine Day card showing a letter slot filled with valentines. Scrapbook also contains watercolors and drawings, trade cards, programs, menus, invitations, ribbons, photographs, etchings, newspaper clippings, including an announcement of the wedding of Adelaide Watson, and a post card from "cousin Will." Trade cards advertise businesses, including J. E. Caldwell & Co., Stephen F. Whitman & Son, P. Fleischner & Co., Sharpless & Sons, F. T. Howell & Co., A. Ripka & Bro., J. H. Way & Bro., and Automatic Signal Telegraph Co. containing four scenes showing a robbery and fire and police and fire department., Scrapbook contains a number of items depicting Asian people or decorative themes, including a greeting card that reads, "A Happy New Year to You," and showing a Japanese woman, attired in a kimono, sitting and watering a potted plant [p. 9]; a card that reads, "Miss Harris," and depicting a Japanese woman, attired in a kimono made of fabric, standing and facing left [p. 18]; a card titled, "Bric a brac," and showing a blue and white porcelain bowl, vase, and pitcher bordered by hand fans and three flying cranes [p. 29]; and Asian men attired in kimonos having their noses pulled or pulling noses [p. 47]., Watercolors and drawings depict a woman attired in early 19th-century garb in a pumpkin patch, marinescapes, and an anthropomorphic frog. Photographs include a half stereograph showing a croquet match in front of a resort hotel and a photograph of Fifth and Walnut streets (Philadelphia) “taken by Chris in "88." Etchings include a portrait of an elderly man and one signed F. A. Stokes showing a man at a table. Other ephemera includes a hand-made tablet with a cover containing a watercolor depicting birds; a cloth padded bird figurine; a metamorphic playbill for the play "French Flats" at Union Square Theatre; a typewritten engagement announcement composed as a poem; a Christmas Hymnal booklet; handwritten word games, including 'Progressive Conversation"; a Pennsylvania Railroad "Old Point Comfort" tour schedule; and a train schedule scrap annotated with a doodle and inscribed text., Black binding, stamped on cover: Scrapbook., Label pasted on verso of cover: Patent Back Scrap Book. Pat. March 28, 1876., Inscribed on front free end paper: Minnie Campbell Harris Philadelphia. January 12, 1887., Provenance and date of majority of contents identified by brief inscriptions. Provenances include Nannie (i.e., Mary Jaudon) Harris, Lucy and Susan Jaudon, Mai Philler, Carrie (i.e., Caroline) Biddle, and Helen Morton., Printers include Philadelphia firms Craig, Finley & Co., Dreka, Rowley & Chew, and Sunshine Pub. Co.; Boston firm L. Prang & Co.; and British and Irish firms William Dickes, Marcus Ward & Co., and Eyre & Spottiswoode., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Housed in phase box., Gift of Elizabeth McLean., Inventory available at repository., Mary Campbell Harris (known as Minnie), daughter of U.S. Naval Commander Thomas Cadwalder Harris (1826-1875) and Mary Louisa Bainbridge Jaudon (1835-1914), was born in New York on December 27, 1862. Descended from Commodore William Bainbridge and Thomas Harris, the first surgeon-general of the United States Navy, Harris and her family resided in Philadelphia by 1866. In 1893, she married John L. Wilson (b. 1850), later treasurer of Coal Land Corporation and the couple resided in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. Harris was active in the Sedgely Club and often attended and held card parties, teas, and luncheons noted in the local press. Harris spent her later years residing in Bryn Mawr where she died circa 1948.
Creator: Wilson, Mary Campbell Harris, 1862-approximately 1948
Date: [ca. 1877-ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Harris [P.9682.1]

Title: [Scene on Atlantic City boardwalk near Lindley's baths]
Description: Scene depicting the busy Atlantic City boardwalk with many promenaders. Several businesses line the boardwalk including a photographic studio, Adams Bath Houses, Lindley's Baths, and Shimamura & Company. Through the glass storefront window at Shimamura & Co., numerous vases and framed works are visible. Men, women, and children promenaders include two African American girls attired in white dresses and hats; three women attired in Japanese kimono carry parasols and one carries a fan; members of a band; and a white boy carrying a sign for "Cleveland's Iron Pier." In the left, a large American flag flies. An observation tower with people is seen in the background. Shingo Shimamura, along with several Japanese partners including Y. Mayebara, and Takemura, opened Shimamura and Co. in 1888 at Tennessee Avenue and the Boardwalk, Atlantic City. The store sold Japanese art and decorative arts. In 1906, Shimamura opened another store at 579 Broadway, New York City., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the people., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1895]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Cities [P.9260.590]

Main menu

Error message