Ephemeral Beauty: Grind Your Coffee

Click on the image to love a lassie, a bonnie hee-land lassie.

Well, what have we here? This nifty little trade card with its wordy backside dates to 1889 and was made exclusively for Arbuckle Brothers of New York City—hawkers of coffee which appears to be coated in eggs and sugar.

The obverse depicts various scenes of Scotland, including a Scottish, Lassie, High Street, a Highlander and Edinburgh Castle. Published by Joseph Knapp of New York, it’s a great example of the high quality of their printing.

It would appear that this was the tenth installment in a series of cards promoting Ariosa Coffee which took buyers on a nice, flat trip around the world. Each card included drawings of native people and places and a brief description of each location (printed in teeeeeeny, tiny type).

I’ve spared your eyes by typing out the copy. Meanwhile, I’m now cross-eyed.

Let’s look, shall we?



One of 50 views from a trip around the world.

GRIND 
YOUR COFFEE 
AT HOME. 

     It will pay you well to keep a
small coffee-mill in your kitchen
and grind your coffee just as
you use it, one mess at a time.
Coffee should not be ground
until the coffee-pot is ready to
receive it. Coffee will lose more
of its strength and aroma in one
hour after being ground than
in six months before being
ground. So long as

ARIOSA 

remains in the whole berry, our
glazing, composed of choice
eggs and pure confectioners’ A
sugar, closes the pores of the
coffee, and thereby are retained
all the original strength and
aroma.ARIOSA COFFEE 

has during 25 years set the
standard for all other roasted
coffees. So true is this that
other manufacturers, in recom-
mending their goods, have
known no higher praise than
to say, “It’s just as good as
Arbuckles’.”ARBUCKLE BROS. 
NEW YORK CITY 
JOSEPH P. KNAPP, LITH., N.Y. 



And, then, on the next column, we get the tenth installment of our sugar-coated, coffee-based trip around the world. Let’s put on our kilts and go to…



EDINBURG, SCOTLAND. 

     The point commanding at a
glance the view of all the most
noted features within and around
Edinburgh, is Calton Hill, at the
summit of which is Nelson’s Monu-
ment, its top 350 feet above the sea,
and where, every day at one o’clock
an electric time signal indicates the
hour. 

(NOTE FROM JOSEPH—WHY JUST AT ONE O’CLOCK?) 

     Edinburgh Castle is on a rock
which was the site of a stronghold
before the earliest dates of Scottish
history, and is connected with many
of the stirring scenes recorded in
the annals of this interesting
country. The entrance to the Cas-
tle is by an esplanade on the east.
This is the only entrance. On leav-
ing the confines, a continuous route
leads through the time honored
chain of streets, the Lawn Market,
High Street, with its narrower por-
tion called Nether Bow, and Can-
nongate, to Holyrood Palace.

     The Scott Monument is an ele-
gant structure in the form of an
open crucial Gothic spire, supported
on four early English arches which
serve as a canopy for the statue. It
is about 200 feet high. Under the
central basement arch is a marble
statue of Sir Walter Scott with a
figure of his favorite dog at his
feet.

     St. Giles’ Church is a Gothic edi-
fice with massive square tower ter-
minating in open stone work in the
form of a crown, and is noted
as the scene of many remarkable
events. Behind the church is Par-
liament Square. This occupies the
site of an ancient cemetery where
the reformer, John Knox, was
buried. The Hall of Parliament
House is very beautiful with its
stained glass windows, pictures and
statues.

     Holyrood Palace is renowned for
legendary romance as to its origin
and for the actual tragic incidents
of royalty within its walls. On the
way to the Queen’s Drive, Craig-
miliar Castle is seen in the distance,
where Mary Queen of Scots often
resided. 

     Population 1889 (est.) 271,135

Ephemeral Beauty: An Odd Double-Sided Chromolithograph

Click image to enlarge.

Hmmmm…this is weird. It’s not a trade card. Its paper is thin and glossy and printed with an illustration on both sides. It’s not a scrap, certainly. It was not cut from a magazine since the odds of the image being centered in the same spot on two sides of a page are quite slim. So, what is it?

This chromolithograph depicts two scenes. One shows a well-dressed, if not wild-eyed, gent holding a package of the unfortunately named Sapolio—a brand of soap which was quite popular between 1883 and 1908. Sapolio is notable for its aggressive advertising campaigns. By 1908, they’d run out of steam with their advertising. When their interesting ads stopped, people stopped buying the product and it died (it was recently resurrected with modest success in Peru and Chile). The man in the scene has swept back a dramatic drapery to remove a life-sized statue. Is he going to clean her with his bar of soap? Has he cleaned her? Is he going to clean himself in front of her? Was she a polychrome sculpture which has been stripped of any and all pigment by being scrubbed with what I can only assume was a fairly harsh cleanser?

Let’s see what’s on the reverse. 

Click image to enlarge.

The other side shows a lad in a kilt with his mum. He’s drinking precariously from a large bottle. He’s upset a bowl and is mother is concerned by it. Or maybe she’s concerned because there’s a fox carved into her over-mantle. Maybe the kid’s a drunk and he’s fallen off the wagon. I trust he’s not drinking Sapolio. In fact, I can’t see any relationship between the two images. Yet, they’re created in the same style by, presumably, the same artist.

Could this be an ad for Sapolio? A portion of an ad? Or is it an image for something else which employed the use of the Sapolio brand since, for awhile, the name was synonymous with soap in general.

It will remain a mystery...a charming, brightly-colored mystery.

Ephemeral Beauty: A Die-Cut Trade Card for Kensington Work

Click image to enlarge.

Of my collection of ephemera, I have a special fondness for the die-cut cards.  Here's one in the shape of a painter’s palette. I’ve got another one in the same shape which has a ship on the front. This one depicts a rather manipulative looking kitten who looks a bit like Bertie's cat, Miss Oscar.  

Sure, he seems sweet at first glance, but there’s something underneath his expression that makes me think he’s got a switch-blade. Or…not. He also looks a bit like Princess Diana, too. So, I’m torn.

These die-cut cards were available through catalogs and could be customized. This one has been printed on the front with the words:

Compliments of 
     MRS. A.W. BELCHER.                                                                         (over) 

Well, if you insist.

The reverse has been custom-printed for an individual operating her own business, which I think is pretty nifty. Let’s see what she has to say.

LADIES…
                I have a fine assortment of new and
artistic designs for Kensington Work, which
you are invited to call and examine. Stitch
taught; work done, or begun: Outlining,
&c., also material for the same. Stamping
to order.
        425 ESSEX STREET, LAWRENCE, MASS.

For those who don’t know, Kensington work is a type of embroidery which was revived and became quite fashionable in Victorian England. The stitch resembles the plumage of a bird with a series of overlapping stitches which create a gradation of color. The technique was used to create patterns of flowers, foliage, birds and animals.

Click image to enlarge.

I wonder if Mrs. Belcher is an ancestor of Bob.

Fox Broadcasting

Ephemeral Beauty: Another Spooky McLaughlin's Paper Doll

The McLaughlin’s Coffee people wanted to capture the attention of their Nineteenth Century clientele and, so, they produced a series of paper dolls with detachable heads and swap-able bodies. We’ve looked at some from my collection before. 

After a century, many of them have donned a patina which gives them a rather spooky look which I find particularly charming. This one is, in my estimation, the spookiest of the lot.

On the reverse, she says the same thing that her scary sisters say:

16 DOLLS IN THIS SET 

.4 Baby Dolls.

..4 Girl Dolls.. 

...4 Boy Dolls... 

..4 Mamma Dolls.. 

THE HEADS COME OFF 

YOU CAN DRESS AN UN- 

DRESS THEM AS YOU PLEASE. 

SECURE THE WHOLE FAMILY. 

One Doll in Every Package of 

McLaughlin’s 

XXXX COFFEE 

Ephemeral Beauty: Dr. Jacques German Worm Cakes

What have we here? A mother and child—they’re being visited by a fashionable lady who seems to be offering something to them. Soap, perhaps? Or is it a German Worm Cake? After all, they never fail.

Why would this healthy-looking young lady need worm cakes? She seems to be okay, maybe a little tired. Her ENORMOUS baby seems hearty enough. But, then…who can tell when worms might attack? They come from candy, you know? What? You didn’t know? Well, I didn’t either, but that’s what the reverse of the card tells us. Candy and good health bring worms. Poor health and over-eating brings worms. Water and air bring worms. Everything brings worms! Worms, worms, worms! You need vermifuge! You need it now! 

Read on and be afraid…

DR. JACQUES' 
German Worm Cakes, 
The Most Efficient Remedy Discovered

     These Worm Cakes have had the most wonderful suc-
cess, and have proved to be the very best, safest and
most efficient Worm Remedy ever placed within reach of
the people. They are a safe medicine and easily admin-
istered, as children will readily take them, and their
efficiency is remarkable. Nearly all children are at some
time affected with worms, and worms in the system are
more dangerous than is generally supposed , as they de-
prive the children of the benefit of the food they eat,
thus reducing them to a constant state of emaciation and
debility, and also lay the foundation of many serious dis-
eases. The origin of worms in the human body is very
obscure. However, it is certain that children of scrof-
ulous tendency and generally depraved health are most
apt to be affected with them, although they are also
quite generally found in children who are in robust
health. Certain causes are well known to be exceedingly
favorable to their growth, such as excessive indulgence
in food, excessive indulgence in candy and confectionery,
impure water, etc. Worms are most abundant in moist
countries or during a long prevalence of warm, damp
weather. Children after weaning, are more frequently
affected than very young infants, and Convulsions or
Spasms are often caused by worms in the system. Be
sure to ask for Dr. Jacques’ German Worm Cakes.

                           Prepared by theEMMERT PROPRIETARY CO.,    --    Chicago, Ill. 
                          PRESENTED BY… 

NO ONE.

Let's translate the above, shall we?

So, whether you’re strong or weak, whether you eat well or poorly, whether you’re a grown up or a baby…WORMS ARE GONNA GET YA. So, you might as well eat these German Worm Cakes. We don’t tell you what they are or what’s in them. Are they also made of worms? We’ll never tell. Just know that worms are going to get you and make your baby have spasms and be depraved. And, you’ll never know where they came from!

Ephemeral Beauty: The Mollie Knitting Machine

In the Nineteenth Century, evenings were spent reading, engaged in conversation, playing games, enjoying artistic pursuits, and strapping your daughters into a knitting machine. Well, that’s the impression I get from this trade card.

The card was created for The Mollie Knitting Machine which claims to be “The Cheapest and Best Made.” By the was patented on August 10, 1886. The bottom tells us that we can buy this contraption somewhere in Missouri, in the past.

The chromolithograph, of course, has all the typical trademarks of such products—a happy kitten playing with a ball of yarn and…well, that’s about it. This pale-faced young lady’s cadaverous face is fixed in resolution to her fate as she, bound to her chair, is trapped within the Mollie Knitting Machine. There’s no escape for her. She knows it. So, she’ll just focus on her vaguely Arts and Crafts flower pattern and hope that, perhaps, the kitten will gnaw through the ropes which bind her into this nightmare of needlework.

$500 REWARD 

for any HAND-TUFTING MACHINE on the market at this
date (Sept. 15, 1887,) that can be worked by a child six years
old, with such precision, ease and rapidity, and making such
close solid stitches to the fabric, in working on curves, as can be
done withDeal’s • Fabric • Tufter
(Pat. Aug. 10, 1886; Improved Aug. 25, 1886.) 
AUTOMATIC STITCHER AND FEEDER. Makes Regular Stitches and Beautiful Work
          So Simple a Child can Operate it with Ease.
                    Beautiful in Finish. Perfect in Construction.
                              Durable in Use.

     Ladies delighted with it, and discarding the heavy, awk-
ward flat-handle and loose working crank-handle machines.
     Articles of handiwork – mementoes in years to come of the
loved ones of “Home, Sweet Home,” – made in a few hours
with this LATEST IMPROVED FABRIC TUFTER; such as
beautiful

TURKISH RUGS.
          OTTOMANS, QUILTS,
                    PIANO SPREADS, TIDIES,
                            STAIR CARPETS, LAP ROBES,
                                      HOODS, MITTENS,
                                              CAPS, SLIPPERS. ETC. 

     One Hundred and Fifty Stitches Easily Made in a Minute.
Works Cotton and Woolen Rags, Ravelings and Yarn. We
guarantee every Tufter to be PERFECT IN EVERY PAR-
TICULAR.      Sent by mail to any address for $1.50. Carpet Yarn in
colors at 60 cents a pound. Beautiful patterns in stock. Ad-
justable hard-wood frames, 4 ft. by 6 ft., at 40 cents. Orders
by mail promptly attended to.
     AGENTS WANTED IN EVERY TOWN. 
Address 
GEO. H. KING, MANAGER
FABRIC TUFTER CO.
26 EAST SEVENTH ST.
KANSAS CITY, MO. 


Well, thank God. Now, I can get my tidies made! I just have to let little Audra’s legs atrophy for it. This thing could do anything, it seems. Anything, I suppose, except give your daughter a healthful glow and a happy look in her eye. So, for $1.50, I can have all manner of fuzzy things in my house AND keep the female children from thriving.

Ah, but they did anyway. As you can see, one of them had the audacity to write on the card. On the front, in neat script, she wrote her name in pencil—“Lissa.” On the reverse, she wrote something which is now unreadable. I think it says, “Help me.”

Ephemeral Beauty: A Trade Card for Newman and Levinson

Click Image to Enlarge

Here’s an excellent example of a “stock” trade card which has been used by a business as an advertising tool. The card, likely selected from a catalog from a local printer, features a comic drawing and caption which, it seems appealed to the advertiser.

The drawing depicts “Simple Simon” who seems to either have a tooth-ache or is deceased, and, in the style of Jacob Marley, has his jaw bound. Simon wears his dressing gown and is fishing. The caption at the above right reads:

SIMPLE SIMON WENT A FISHING
      FOR TO CATCH A WHALE
ALL THE WATER HE HAD GOT
   WAS IN HIS MOTHER’S PAIL. 

This is the way the card looked when it was selected from the catalog. As you can see, there’s a white space to the left of the caption which was meant to contain the logo or motto of the business who selected this particular model. The advertiser opted not to have that space printed, instead focusing only on adding a custom-printed message to the reverse which would have been entirely blank. Two-sided printing would have been considerably more costly.

Let’s see what the reverse says, and, especially, who the advertiser is. Firstly, I notice that they spell “chenille” with three “l’s.” In fact, it's kind of a mess. I'll try to replicate it here as best I can with limited Internet fonts.

WM. J. NEWMAN                                                                                               JOHN LEVINSON 

NEWMAN & LEVINSON, 

(Successors to BUYER & REICH,) 

IMPORTERS OF AND DEALERS IN 

Berlin Zephyrs, German Yarns, 

CANVAS,            HOSIERY,          LACES     

                       CHENILLLE,     EMBROIDERY,      FANCY GOODS, 

                                          FLOSS BEADS,    WHITE GOODS,     TRIMMINGS, ETC. 

KID GLOVES. 

Gilt and Silver Trimmings for Theatrical and Society Purposes. 

Decorative Art Rooms Up Stairs 

No. 129 Kearny Street. 

Between Sutter and Post,                                             San Francisco 

I want some "fancy goods!" I’d guess this card dates to about 1880, by the way. The store certainly has an interesting assortment of goods. I wonder, however, why they are so shy about the “Decorative Art Rooms” which are seemingly hidden upstairs. 

Click Image to Enlarge

Ephemeral Beauty: A Bookmark from the Family Druggist

You must click on the image to see the larger picture since it's very attractive.  I insist.  

A chinoiserie-inspired scene on a celadon background, this antique bookmark mimics the look of the japanned objects and furnishings which were so popular in the mid-to-late Nineteenth Century while incorporating the “it” colors of the 1880s—minty green, rust, coral and umber.

It’s a dandy little thing. I love the color palette. If given this bookmark/trade card by my local druggist today, I’d surely save it and use it. I think its inherent loveliness is the very reason that it’s survived well over a century to end up in the collection of some guy in Texas in 2012.

EVERARD H. KELLEY, FAMILY DRUGGIST handed out these cards. I wonder if he liked his name. I’ve never heard the name “Everard” before, but you can rest assured it’ll pop up in "A Recipe for Punch" or some of my other projects. Mr. Kelley’s apothecary shop was located on the Post Office Block of Lawrence, Massachusetts. That’s not too specific is it? Well, I suppose if you lived in Lawrence in the 1880s that was as specific an address as was necessary. I’m sure everyone knew Mr. Kelley. I’m sure Everard was the president of some local organization—the Elks or the Loyal Order of Anteaters or, perhaps, he was a member of some group like one which we had here in my hometown in the 1880s—the ‘Possum and ‘Tater Club. Everyone probably knew him, and everyone probably liked him. I’ll bet the men thought he was “aces” and the ladies admired his taste and gentle spirit. Or…maybe he was a real jerk and everyone cringed every time they went to buy a Scrofula tonic. “You know, Midge, he’s bitter about his name. That’s why he’s like that.”

Either way, for some reason, this card has been preserved, and I’m glad it has because it’s awfully pretty. And, that’s the sort of thing I think about here in my house full of old paper.

Ephemeral Beauty: Rumford Chemical Works Baking Powder

Click on image to get a closer look.

Nothing says home-baked goodness like “Chemical Works.”

The front of this handsome, and atypically large, trade card is printed with a very Rembrandt-y portrait of a curly-locked tot of indeterminate gender. The work of The Major & Knapp Lithography of New York, the card is copyrighted 1884 by the Rumford Chemical Works.

So, what could this be advertising? Oil? Cleaning solution? Soap? Insecticide?

Nope.

Baking powder.

How can this be? Let’s see what they say: 

Prof. HORSFORD'S 

SELF-RAISING 

BREAD PREPARATION. 

The Healthful and Nutritious 

Baking Powder. 

It is recommended and used by the leading Physicians 

and Chemists, and its use is positively 

Beneficial to Health. 

     Phosphate of lime is an essential constituent of all grains, and
is an important nutritive principle and indispensable element in the
construction of all the animal tissues.
     In the process of bolting fine wheat flour, a large portion of the
phosphates are lost.
     This Powder supplies the phosphates, this rendering the bread,
biscuit, etc., healthful and nutritious. 
    No other Baking Powder in the world ever received such high
commendation from eminent authorities. 

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS. 

       Sift the Powder and Flour thoroughly together before wetting.
     Have the oven HOT before mixing the dough.
     Mix the dough as quickly as possible, and put it into the oven immediately. The
quicker this is done, the better the result. 

------------------------- 

Send to Rumford Chemical Works, Providence, R.I., for the Horsford Almanac 

And Cook Book.

Wow! What specific instructions! Next time I try to bake something, I'll make the oven vaguely HOT and then work as fast as I can. I wonder what the little child on the front of the card would say. Nothing, I suppose, since he or she would likely be very disinterested.

Ephemeral Beauty: A McLaughlin’s Coffee Paper Doll, c. 1890

"One of us.  One of us.  One of us.  One of us.  One of us."

Click on image to see what puts the fourth X in McLaughlin's XXXX Coffee.

This spoooooooky young lady with her glasses and her Audra Lindley curls is happily whipping up a little snack for you. Oh, and, her head comes off.

Thankfully for her, her arms are attached to her head. But, curiously, not to her frying pan.

Clearly, she’s a paper doll. She was part of a pretty clever ad campaign from the late Nineteenth Century for McLaughlin’s XXXX Coffee. I wonder what gave it the extra “x.” It must be because of the detachable head.

So…

McLaughlin’s had sixteen little, flat doll bodies with detachable heads which it offered as a premium. The idea was that you could swap their little heads around and put them in different outfits which folded over the heads. Most heads had arms, too, so that the figures could “hold” things and make flapjacks or something. The reverse of each was printed with some variation of the following--odd, random, incomplete ellipses and all:

16 DOLLS IN THIS SET 

.4 Baby Dolls.

..4 Girl Dolls.. 

...4 Boy Dolls... 

..4 Mamma Dolls.. 

THE HEADS COME OFF 

YOU CAN DRESS AN UN- 

DRESS THEM AS YOU PLEASE. 

SECURE THE WHOLE FAMILY. 

One Doll in Every Package of 

McLaughlin’s 

XXXX COFFEE 

What? No Papa Dolls? Hmph.

Since I’m told that I can dress and undress them as I please, I’d best get busy…  Just don't be surprised if you see some paper dolls in the next few days dressed like Wayland Flowers and Madame.  Or...Shirley Jones.  Or...Dick Gautier.  You know, the greats...

Oh!  Wait!  Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead!

Because that's what I please.

Object of the Day: A Trade Card for Blood Bitters

Click on image to enlarge.

Burdock Blood Bitters. That sounds tasty. It wasn’t made of blood. It wasn’t made by someone named Burdock. Apparently, this medicinal elixir was made from a type of thistle called burdocks. Burdocks have been ground up for centuries and used in a suspension to calm the stomach. The practice was especially popular in monastic orders who, I suppose, have little else to do when not praying and baking bread. Blood Bitters were meant to cleanse the blood and to encourage intestinal health.

And, so, here’s another trade card from my collection. Printed by Coback and Company of Buffalo New York, I’d guess this card dates to the late 1870s. The front features a chromolithograph of a happy tot in a fine little outfit of turquoise velvet, a rough and cute little sash of gold and red silk. He even has little shoes and attractive pink socks.

I can’t help but be a little disturbed by the face that he’s making. I suppose that’s the face of a being with happy bowels. He holds aloft a bottle of Burdock Blood Bitters and he seems to be saying, “Look at this. This will please your bowels.”

Sadly, the reverse of the card is a little ruined after having been first glued into an album (which is really for what these cards were intended), and then, ripped out of said album a century later. On one hand, being in an album preserved this card for over a hundred years and allowed me to add it to my collection so I can preserve it even longer. However, it also compromised the integrity of the reverse printing.

Let’s see if we can’t make out some of it.
_________ on receipt of 3 ct _______ 
____________ & Co. Buffalo, N.Y. 

DON’T DO __ T 
     Don’t get married if you have dyspepsia _____
stomach are pretty sure to breed misery in __________
hold.
     DON’T attempt a big job of work with the __________
plaint, as ten to one you’ll fail.
     DON'T try to be a society favorite if you are bilious.
Sour folks are poor company.
     Don’t aspire to any high position in the world if you
are debilitated, nervous or weak. It is the strong and
tough who win.
     DON’T imagine that ______________ life if your bloos
is impoverished.
     DON’T labor to loo_______________ a case of scrofula
on your hands.
    DON’T malign t______________ you’ve no appetite.
Tone you your stomach ___________
     DON’T drag through _______ with any of the dis-
eases we have here _________ is a way to avoid it.
     DON’T forget that Burdock Blood Bitters cure dys-
pepsia, cure disorders of the liver and kidneys, cure
nervousness, biliousness, constipation, debility, any
disease of the blood.
     DON’T forget that Burdock Blood Bitters are whole-
some, economical, quick to relieve, thoroughly satis-
________, and can be obtained of any druggist ____. 

Well, that’s not scary at all. Very uplifting ad copy. Not at all like a demented scrofulous Mad-Lib.

Then, on the bottom, stamped crookedly in pink (which I suspect was once red), it reads:

Sold by A.L. Field, Druggist 

251 Thorndike St., Davis Corner 

Lowell, Mass. 

Ephemeral Beauty: Use Corticelli Silk

Click to enlarge.

So many of the trade cards in my ever-growing collection of ephemera are for thread.  Upon a recent visit, my mother was looking at a cross-section of my cards which are displayed on a stand on a table and remarked that most of them were advertising thread, or, as she said, "giant spools of thread."  Before my mother pointed it out, I hadn't really noticed the imbalance of thread-related cards versus others.  Medical quackery as a theme runs a close second.  There are almost as many cards for de-worming your children and strengthening your spleen.  I imagine it's because clothes weren't the toss-away items they are now, many were made in the home, and there was a greater need for and time for sewing.  In fact, it was an art unto itself where, today, unless you're a designer or on Project Runway, sewing is considered more of a chore than anything else.

Here's another thread-related card.  This one doesn't feature terrifyingly large spools of thread around which human children play.  This one boasts the second most popular thread motif, a pretty lady.  After all, the thread's target audience was the lady of the house (and her maid).  Showing an attractively clad woman, obviously the result of using said thread, makes a lot of sense.

This lady in her blue and crimson bonnet is adorned with a flounce of white silk over her floral-patterned gown.  In an ocher-gloved hand, she holds a spray of flowers.  She looks smugly out at us and says, "You can be as fabulous as I am."

Beneath the image, "Use Corticelli Silk."

The reverse reads:

A FULL LINE OF

Unequalled Corticelli Spool Silk,

FOR SALE BY

SIMON LEWY,

Dealer in

Dry Goods, Carpets, Clothing,

SHOES, HATS, ETC.

175 Broad Street,  Eufaula, Ala.

The printer obviously believed in the late Nineteenth Century credo of, "The more fonts the better."

And, yes, somehow it does make me want to use Corticelli Silk.

Click to enlarge.

Ephemeral Beauty: Pruyne's Oil Paste

In the Nineteenth Century, it seems, more so than today, items in the home needed to be protected from drying out and cracking.  Now we spend more time worrying about keeping our skin from drying out and cracking than we do in concern for protecting the tops of our cars.

Click to enlarge.

Products such as Pruyne's Oil Paste were marketed to keep leather items, in particular, supple and useful.

I like this little trade card which has been sitting with its dozens of ephemera brethren in my collection, waiting to see the light of day again.

Really, it's a stock card which a merchant or manufacturer would have ordered to be printed with information pertaining to their wares.

An attractive celadon green makes a suitable background for a spray of morning glories and wheat.  I've always had a fondness for morning glories.  Perhaps it's because the flower reminds me of 1164 Morning Glory Circle, the fictional home in Westport of Darrin and Samantha Stephens and their children, Tabitha and Adam.  Of course, I'm referring to Bewitched.  In reality 1164 Morning Glory Circle is a set on the former Columbia Ranch (now the Warner Ranch) and has about as much substance as this card.

Flitting amongst the arrangement of grain and glories is a rather plump bee who looks quite content.

The white rectangle on this stock card was printed:

USE

Pruyne's Chamion Oil Paste

For Harness, Carriage Tops, Boots

and Shoes.

Norwich Oil Paste Co., Prop'rs

NORWICH, NEW YORK

Perhaps at some point in the late 1880s, Endora used Pruyne's Oil Paste to keep her saddle supple.  Oh my stars!

Nonetheless, it's a pretty little card in those stunning late Victorian colors--green, bright salmon, rose and purple--which I love so much.