Collection of illustrated ephemera, primarily tradecards, envelopes, receipts, letterheads, billheads, and labels, for predominantly Pennsylvania businesses and trades. Some trade cards and labels are embossed, die cut, or metamorphic designs. Businesses and trades include the tobacco, transportation, and rags and paper industry; manufacturers of carriages and wagons, saddlery and harnesses, musical instruments, textiles, and pins; dealers in lumber, furniture, willow ware, clothing, medicines, seeds, spices, and groceries; stationers, printers, and publishers; and a dentist and violin teacher. Also contains rewards of merit; advertising calendars; mid 19th-century miniature illustrated seals containing admonitions; an 1872 American Wood Paper Company pass; an advertising flier for the New Stevens Spring Tooth Harrow plow; tobacco silks containing portraits of prominent Native American chiefs; a reprint of the 1841 "A Plan of the Borough of Harrisburg" designed by John Probst; a wrapper for J. Geo. Hintz, a Reading, Pa. stationer; and menu for the Delavan House hotel under the proprietorship of Charles Leland in Albany, NY. Illustrations depict various subjects. The most numerous are views of storefronts, industrial complexes, modes of transportation, women, children, and animals., Title supplied by cataloger., Artists include Helena Maquire and John Probst., Various engravers and printers, including Allen, Lane & Scott; American Bank Note Co.; Calvert Lith. Co.; E. Ketterlinus & Co.; Forbes Co.; Gies & Co.; Geo. S. Harris; W. Hart; F. S. Hickman; J. H. Buffords Sons; ; Knapp Co. Lith.; Charles Magnus; Charles Mortiz; J. Ottmann Lith. Co.; Phoenix Eng. Co.; L. Prang & Co.; and Ritter & Co.,, Several of the letterheads, billheads, and envelopes contain manuscript notes, primarily numeric calculations, on verso., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Helen Beitler and Estate of Helen Beitler.
Date
[ca. 1830-ca. 1910]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection [P.2011.10]
