Series of illustrated trade cards depicting a bucket labeled "2240 lbs. to the ton" filled with coal and a framed image labeled "1842-1882" of an old miner carrying a basket in his left hand and a shovel over his right shoulder. Branson & Bro.'s operated by David Branson and Jos. A. Wenderoth at 1118 Washington Avenue in Philadelphia., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed on light blue paper., Advertising text printed on versos promotes Branson & Bro.'s coal, including "Old Hazleton" and "Lattimer" grades and guarantees customer satisfaction., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date
[ca. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Branson [1975.F.82 and 1975.F.85]
A Union soldier holds a pickaxe and wears a helmet. The valentine mocks his occupation as a miner before the war, and the sender rejects the recipient because of his social status., Text: You belong to the Sappers and Miners, 'tis said, / And you work in the trenches with pickaxe and spade; / An old spade and pitchfork you wielded at home, / And with ash-cart and blind horse the city did roam; / On 'taters and cabbage you daily did dine, / And you'll die in despair if you want to be mine., "517", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Collection of miscellaneous prints, including promotional novelties, vignettes, views, proof sheet of banknotes, a photograph reproduction, and a postcard. Imagery depicts City Hall, Continental Hotel, Girard Fire Insurance Company, interior of Independence Hall, "Bird's Eye View from Lemon Hill" showing the Fairmount Water Works, Market Street and Delaware Avenue, the storefront of optician William Y. McAllister and Alex. R. Harper & Bro., watches (728 Chestnut), and vignettes showing miners at work, and a view of laborers at work in a stone quarry juxtaposed with a view of Native American persons. Also includes a 1777 German calendar illustration showing Philadelphia along the Delaware River (.193x); an 1804? lottery ticket for the African Church of St. Thomas (.190x); a ca. 1833 proof sheet of bank notes in German for The Western Bank of Philadelphia; a ca. 1830 textile sewn on paper and illustrated with a genre scene in front of the "House of Refuge, Philadelphia"; a pocket-size political print depicting Philadelphia mayor-elect Morton McMichael holding a fox by its tail to satirize his 1865 election win over Daniel M. Fox; and a 1919 calligraphic envelope (in color inks) addressed to Mrs. Sarah Zook, Temple University Hospital, Broad & Ontario Streets, Phila, Pa. Some prints also depict street and pedestrian traffic. Vignettes are possibly specimens for illustrations on certificates., Title supplied by cataloger., Artists, photographers, and publishers include C. G. Childs, W. N. Jennings, and The Rotograph Co., P.2013.87.190x and 193x in frames and housed separately in phase box., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1830-ca. 1950, bulk ca. 1860-ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Freedman Collection - Box 2 - Miscellaneous [P.2013.87.2; 185-195x], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Freedman Collection - Lottery & Calendar Illustrations [P.2013.87.190x and 193x]
