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- Title
- [Steam dummies, Fifth & Sixth Street line, with crowd]
- Description
- Depicts a crowd of people standing near the number 8 steam dummy that operated along Fifth and Sixth Streets, between Frankford and Southwark, at one point known as the Frankford-Southwark Passenger Railway. An engineer or driver stands alone in soiled overalls next to an open compartment, as if he's just repaired or inspected the car. The conductor and a uniformed policeman stand with other male passengers in the background, in front of the attached trailer, which has seats on the roof of the car., Title from manuscript on verso., According to Jackson's Encyclopedia of Philadelphia, steam dummies were first used on the Frankford branch of the Frankford-Southwark Passenger Railway in 1863 and operated until 1893 when electric streetcars replaced them., Gift of Emily Riese., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
- Creator
- Davis, Eugene H., photographer
- Date
- 1894
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Davis [P.9332.4]
- Title
- View of the farm where the murder of the Deering [sic] Family was committed by the fiend Antoine Probst on April 7th 1866
- Description
- News print showing the farm at Jones Lane in South Philadelphia of the Philadelphia family murdered by their farmhand Anton Probst on April 7, 1866. The victims included Christopher Dearing, aged 38 years; his wife, Julia Dearing, aged 45 years; their son, John Dearing, aged 8 years; their son, Thomas Dearing, aged 6 years; their daughter, Anna Dearing, aged 4 years; their daughter, Emily Dearing, aged 2 years; family friend Elizabeth Dolan, aged 25 years; and fieldhand Cornelius Cary, aged 17 years. Depicts (left to right) "1. The Haystack" where the headless body of the first murdered, field hand Cary, was hidden; "2. The Dwelling" Probst ransacked for money and in which he shaved, changed, napped, and ate after the murder; "3. The Stable" where Probst fed the animals before his departure; and "4. The Barn" where the family was lured one by one, killed, and discovered by neighbors a few days later. Individuals walk the property, including spectators and police, and a cow stands across from two policemen in a field tilled for planting in the foreground. Also shows barren trees, carts, wagons, and other farm equipment. Probst, a German immigrant and swindler, was a disgruntled former farmhand of the Dearings who murdered the family by hammer and ax for revenge and money. He was convicted in May 1866 and executed the following month at Moyamensing Prison for the largest murder in Philadelphia at that time., Not in Wainwright., pdcp00022, Manuscript note on verso: In the ‘neck’ Philada a farm close to the Delaware River., Key to buildings depicted printed below the image., Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Farms
- Date
- [1866]
- Location
- Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Farms
- Title
- View of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, Philadelphia, where over 300,000 Union soldiers have been fed. [graphic] / Schell del; Adrian - Probasco sc.
- Description
- Signature of Corresponding Secretary inscribed on recto: S.B. Fales., Inscribed on recto of 5778.F.8c: Organized May 27th 1861 - finally closed Dec. 1st 1865 - torn down Jany 3, 1866 - 1,025,000 meals furnished to soldiers, sailors, freedmen & c. SBF, Inscribed on recto of P.2006.1: John Mcallister Jr. with regards of Samuel B. Fales. Organized May 27th 1861 - finally closed Dec. 1st 1865 - torn down Jany 3, 1866 - 1,025,000 meals furnished to soldiers, sailors, freedmen & c. SBF, Created postfreeze., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to the Cooper Shop and Union Volunteer Saloons and Hospitals., Exterior view showing heavy street activity in front of the saloon and hospital of the volunteer relief agency located near the Navy Yard at Swanson and Washington Avenues. A Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad train arrives on the grounds, soldiers line up to enter the saloon, fire company wagons being used as ambulances pass in the streets; and a crowd of men and women stand near a policeman. Contains the names of committee officers and members below the image. Situated at the transportation hub between the North and the South on land leased en gratis from the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, the agency provided meals, hospital care, washing, sleeping, and writing facilities to military personnel, refugees, and freedmen. It served over 800,000 men, 1,025,000 meals before closing.
- Creator
- Adrian & Probasco, engraver., creator, Schell, Francis H., 1834-1909, delineator., creator
- Date
- [ca. 1862]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia Print Dept. Ph Pr - 11x14 - Associations [5778.F.8c; 9a; 30b; P.2006.1.27]
- Title
- Chinatown, Philadelphia, Pa. [900 block Race Street]
- Description
- View of Chinatown on the 900 block of Race Street in Philadelphia. In the right, shows the exterior of the Far East Chinese Restaurant at 907-909 Race Street built after the designs of Thomas Ustick Walter in ca. 1827 and later altered with 907 raised one story and 909 raised two stories. There are Chinese architectural details on the balcony and awning which reads, 907 Far East Chinese Cafe. A white man police officer and a white woman stand under the awning and face the viewer. Buildings extend on both sides of the street including another restaurant with a sign that reads, 917 Cafe. Men and women pedestrians walk on the sidewalks. The Far East Chinese Restaurant operated from circa 1906 to 1952., Title from item., Date inferred from medium and content., Divided back., Library Company copy has manuscript message and address written on verso and is postmarked, Philadelphia, Pa. Jul 13, 1911 4:30 P.M., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
- Date
- [ca. 1911]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP Postcards - Streets - Race [P.2023.27.2]
- Title
- Chinatown by moonlight Philadelphia, Pa. [900 block Race Street]
- Description
- View of Chinatown on the 900 block of Race Street in Philadelphia. In the right, shows the exterior of the Far East Chinese Restaurant at 907-909 Race Street built after the designs of Thomas Ustick Walter in ca. 1827 and later altered with 907 raised one story and 909 raised two stories. There are Chinese architectural details on the balcony and awning which reads, 907 Far East Chinese Cafe. A white man police officer and a white woman stand under the awning and face the viewer. Buildings extend on both sides of the street including another restaurant with a sign that reads, 917 Cafe. Light emanates through windows and from the signs on the buildings, and the moon shines from above. Men and women pedestrians walk on the sidewalks. The Far East Chinese Restaurant operated from circa 1906 to 1952., Title from item., Date inferred from medium and content., Divided back., Library Company copy has manuscript message and address written on verso and is postmarked, Philadelphia, Pa. Jul 17, 1915 1[0] A.M., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
- Date
- [ca. 1915]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP Postcards - Streets - Race [P.2023.27.3]
- Title
- Sunday laws hanging the cat on Monday for killing the mouse on Sunday
- Description
- Cartoon mocking Philadelphia's Sunday Laws depicting the moment before "Thomas" the cat will be hanged for his murder of a mouse on the Sabbath. In the center, shows the gallows surrounded by a line of white policemen, attired in uniforms and caps. In the left, three white hangmen, attired in suits, hold onto the rope and pull on the unlooped end of the noose. Two of the men smile sinisterly, while the third man wipes his tears with a handkerchief as he says, “Alas poor Tom!” To the right, an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature with exaggerated features, carries the "Blood Tub." Under the noose, a white man, possibly Philadelphia Mayor Alexander Henry, stands holding an execution order that reads, “Mayor Public Execution Tom” and the cat by the scruff of its neck. Before him stands a minister, resembling John Chambers, a champion of the Sunday Laws. He holds the dead mouse in this right hand and an open book in his left hand as he sentences the cat to death for murder. Behind the minister, an elderly white man, attired in a suit with a white bowtie, stands slightly hunched down holding an ear trumpet to his right ear. He comments, “I can’t hear a word the minister says on account of them cars,” a reference to the contested Sunday Law against the running of streetcars. A black dog runs in the left foreground., Title from item., Date from manuscript note written on recto: Aug. 1859., Place of publication inferred from content., Text printed on recto, below image: In the Dark Ages, long ago, One Horne was flogged on Monday; What for? That’s what I want you to know, He danced a horn-pipe Sunday! That was all! He but danced a horn-pipe Sunday, But he danced to the horsewhip Monday. By the roundheads, too, when Cromwell reigned, We read there was a hung on Monday, A cat who “the Sabbath day (?) profaned” By cat-ching a mouse on Sunday? Understand: She played with him first on Sunday, ‘Twas for that she was hung on Monday! And by America’s Puritan men, Mrs. Hotchkiss was punished on Monday; Cotton Mather forbade her, but once and again, She had kissed her babe on Sunday; A blow for a kiss. For so many kisses on Sunday, She got so many blows on Monday. So, too, in Brooklyn, the other day, Meyerbeer was tried on Monday; The complaint against him thus did say “He has sold lager beer on Sunday” And he had! But the jury said, on Monday! A good drink might be sold Sunday! And in the West’s “Queen city,” too, One Rudolph’s just ‘quitted on Monday; He would drive his ‘bus the whole week through And accommodate people on Sunday: And the Court, Gave the very Pruden-t decision on Monday, That “there’s more than ‘one thing needful’ on Sunday:” And so the “good time” is “coming” boys When a thing that is good on Monday—A drink, or a drive, or a joyful noise—Will be thought not bad on Sunday! Everywhere When wrong will be wrong on Monday, And right will be right on Sunday!, Accessioned 1893., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., 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
- [Philadelphia]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1859-Sun [5656.F.24a]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. A black charge
- Description
- Racist caricature depicting a courtroom scene where an African American man magistrate hears the case of an African American man detained for drunkenness and "-sulting de Fair sec." In the left, the judge who has one foot wrapped and raised on a foot rest sits at a table and holds a glass of liquid with a spoon in it near a bottle and corkscrew. He has a receding hairline, wears glasses, and is attired in a blue waistcoat, tan vest, white shirt and bowtie, black pantaloons, and a black shoe with a buckle. He states that the detainee has put a "Fair Face" on the matter, but "appearances are bery Black" against him. In the right, the hiccupping detainee, who is attired in a worn, striped shirt and blue jacket, and white patched pants is held by his jacket by an African American man constable attired in a brown robe with yellow details and black slip on shoes with buckles. He holds a staff in his right hand. The detainee explains to the judge that he is innocent and that all he did was ask to "scort a lady home." Next to the judge stands an African American man secretary, attired in a dark jacket and white shirt and bow tie. He stands with a quill in his hand in front of a ledger, ready to write down the testimony. Figures are depicted with oversize and exaggerated features. Their skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferrred from content and name of publisher., Contains three dialogue bubbles above the image: Please y-r Worship I hab taken up dis Nigger!! case he’s -nebriated and -sulting to de Fair sec./Well, young man, you seem to put a bery, Fair Face, on the matter. But, I can assure you, Appearances, are bery Black, against you. What hab you to say, to de Charge./It wasn’t me yr (hiccup) Honor. Dis old Black Beadle kick’d up (hiccup) all de Row case I asked bebe to scort a Lady home., Charles Hunt was a respected 19th century London engraver and etcher known mostly for his prints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Summers, William, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9710.5]