View of the active business block containing and named after Grigg, Elliot, & Co., the largest and most prosperous publishing firm in the city that was founded by John Grigg in 1823 and purchased by J. B. Lippincott in 1849. Shows the block of buildings (10-20 North Fourth Street) covered in signage and including Barcroft, Beaver & Co., dry good dealers and S. M. Day, wholesale combs, brush and fancy goods trimmings (10); Goff & Peterson, importers and manufacturers of saddlery, carriage, and harness trimmings (12); Grigg, Elliot & Co. (14); C. H. & Geo. Abbott, dealers and importers of hardware and cutlery and C. Ahrenfeldt & Co., importers of toys & fancy goods (16); C. B. Lassell & Co., hats and caps and Charles Wingate, dealer in shoes, boots, and palm leaf hats (18); and Edwin & John Tams, importers and dealers of china, earthenware, and glass (20). Patrons exit and enter the various storefronts; delivery men, including an African American man, haul, load, and remove goods from horse-drawn and push carts; laborers load goods into shop storage cellars and use a pulley to raise a large cask; store clerks inspect and open newly arrived packages on the sidewalk; a horse-drawn dust settling machine passes in the street; and artisans and merchandise are visible in several of the shops' upper floor windows. Partial views of the adjacent buildings and a nearby alley with a laborer and push cart are also visible., Title from item., Date from Poulson inscription on recto: Dec. 1848., Contains advertisements for six of the depicted businesses below the image., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 331, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Rease, a prominent mid-19th century Philadelphia trade card lithographer known to highlight details of human interest in his advertisements, partnered with Francis H. Schell in the 1850s and eventually operated his own press until around 1872.
Creator
Rease, W. H., lithographer
Date
[1848]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **W 162 [P.2077]
