Gaslight Style

A prime example of Victorian Gaslight Style , this sausage label uses bold colors, unique typefaces, flowing banners, shadowing, and superimposition to produce an intricate multi-layered, three-dimensional effect. "Real German Sausages. Prepared by Irvine & Stevenson, St. George Preserving Works, Dunedin. Guaranteed perfectly pure of the finest materials and free from all sinews and indigestible matter. Sixty awards. Prepared by an approved German expert. A perfect food. A real delicacy. May be eaten hot or cold. Prepared only by Irvine & Stevenson, St. George Preserving Works, Dunedin, N.Z. Mills, Dick & Co."

"E. Butterick & Co., designers of fashions, publishers and pattern manufacturers. 171, 173, 175, & 177 Regent Street, London, W. 555 Broadway and Union Square, New York. J. W. Wilder, managing partner."

"Prime. G. S. Harris Sons, Phila." For two other cigar box labels printed by the lithographic firm of Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., see First Rate and Prime , and Professor Morse --printed by the

"First Rate. G. S. Harris Sons, Phila." Three cigar box labels--First Rate, Prime , and Professor Morse --printed by the lithographic firm of Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.

"Palmer's Roseine Matches. British made. J.P. & S. Trademark."

"New Home Sewing Machine Co, 1127 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. D. S. Ewing. A painful alternative. I will have a New Home machine! A New Home or a divorce, take your choice, sir!" A Victorian-era before-and-after trade card demonstrating the dire consequences that faced husbands who did not purchase New Home sewing machines for their wives.

"Orchilla Guano 'AA' the great soil enricher. R. A. Wooldridge & Co., importers, Baltimore, Md." Such a nice colorful Victorian-era advertising trade card for, uh, " guano ."

"The Globe Lawn Mower. The Henderson-Achert Co. Litho. Cin." This is a good illustration of Dave Cheadle's observation regarding lawn mower trade cards: "To demonstrate the ease of operation, the mower is invariably shown being pushed by a remarkably overdressed girl, boy, or young woman." For additional information, see the "Lawn Mowers and Landscaping" section in Cheadle's Victorian Trade Cards: Historical Reference and Value Guide (Paducah, Ky.: Collector Books, 1996), pp. 150-51. Richard D. Sheaff features his own copy of this Globe Lawn Mower trade card in the Gaslight Album section of his dazzling and inspiring Sheaff : ephemera site. As Sheaff explains, lithographers used Gaslight Style to create the illusion of depth: "Type, vignettes, products, and design elements are made to seem multi-layered through the use of shadows, superimposition, dimensional banners and ribbons, turned-up faux page corners, and choice of colors." In this trade card, the shadowing and complexity of the letters in "The Globe," the flowing "Lawn Mower" banner that's superimposed over the G, and the elaborate border at the top all help to create the multi-layered effect that's characteristic of the Gaslight Style. The careful placement of the young woman and her lawn mower in the foreground, the bounding dog in the middle, and the tree in the background also contribute to the feeling of depth.

"Spencerian Steel Pens are the best. Da locum melioribus." Cover of a folded nib card, circa 1890s. Nib pens (or dip pens ) were used for Spencerian Script and other writing styles. The metal tips, or nibs, of the pens were sold separately, and some came in small cardboard folders that had covers with elaborate designs like this.

"J. G. Lutkenhoff, dealer in dry goods & notions, No. 128 Pike Street, Covington, Ky." See also Ask and Ye Shall Receive :

"Van Duzer's Fruit Extracts. Perfectly pure! Van Duzer's Extracts are the best for flavoring ice cream, jellies, custard, pastry, &c. For sale by all first-class grocers."

"Hotel Langford. Lighted by electricity. Heated by steam. Everything new. Sample room for traveling men. Near the passenger station. Baths--hot and cold. Rates, $2.00 per day. Susquehanna, Penn. F. F. Langford, propr." This nineteenth-century business card indicates that the Hotel Langford catered to salesmen (called "commercial travelers" or "traveling men" at the time) by offering them "sample rooms" where they could display their wares for potential customers.

"Chas. E. Marsh, International Exhibition, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876. Copyright 1876 by L. Prang & Co. Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, Art Gallery, Machinery Hall." Printed on the back: "Centennial Card. Retail price, 30 cts. per dozen." ("30" is crossed out, and "20" is written below it.) Since Charles E. Marsh's name also appears on a card in the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society that identifies him as a printer ("Chas. E. Marsh, card & job printer, business and address cards a specialty, Greenville, N.H."), it's likely that this was a sample card used to solicit customers for Marsh's printing business. He would have purchased blank copies of this card from lithographer Louis Prang 's firm and then printed individual names on them, as he did here with "Chas. E. Marsh." Although commonly called the Centennial Exposition today, the exhibition's full name when it was held in 1876 was the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine. "Nearly 10 million visitors attended the exhibition and thirty-seven countries participated in it," Wikipedia reports. The five major buildings at the exhibition—the Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, the Art Gallery (also known as Memorial Hall ), and Machinery Hall—are depicted on this card. Although Charles Marsh may have attended the exhibition, it's possible that he advertised these cards elsewhere and filled orders through the mail.

"Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16.24." Compare this with the advertising trade card for J. G. Lutkenhoff, Dealer in Dry Goods and Notions, Covington, Kentucky :

"Adirondack Steamboat Co. Pass E. D. Bennett, G. Supt., Bennington & Rutland Railway, until December 31st, 1897, unless otherwise ordered. George Sweet, president. No. 1932. American Bank Note Co., N.Y."

"Baltimore Steam Packet Co. Bay Line, 1911. Pass Mr. John F. Auch, Frt Traf. Mgr-–Philadelphia & Reading Rwy, until December 31st unless otherwise ordered. John R. Sherwood, president & general manager. No. 1726. Not valid unless countersigned by W. W. Erdman or myself. Florida." According to Wikipedia, "The Baltimore Steam Packet Company , nicknamed the Old Bay Line, was an American steamship line from 1840 to 1962 that provided overnight steamboat service on the Chesapeake Bay , primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia." The steamer Florida , which is pictured on the pass, was a propeller-driven, steel-hulled vessel built by the Maryland Steel Company in 1907. For another illustration of the ship, see Steam Packets on the Chesapeake: A History of the Old Bay Line since 1840 (Centreville, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1961), by Alexander Crosby Brown, p. 82. John F. Auch was a freight traffic manager for the Philadelphia and Reading Railway , which later changed its name to the Reading Railroad and was immortalized as one of the railroads featured on the Monopoly game board. Compare this pass with an Adirondack Steamboat Company Pass, 1897 :

"Rice & Robinson Soap Co., Petroleum Soaps. Presented by O. S. Rice. E. S. Rice, president. R. L. Rice, v, pres't & gen'l mgr. J. C. Robinson, sec'y. E. H. Beardsley, treas. Trademark. Drake. First oil well, 1859. Titusville, Pa. G. H. Dunston, Buffalo, N.Y. Over." The Drake Well Museum near Titusville, Pennsylvania, includes a replica of the historic Drake Oil Well , which is featured in the illustration on this card.

"Dodge, Haley & Co. Iron, steel, heavy hardware, and carriage stock. William H. Haley, Edwin L. Haley, Chas. H. Dodge, Hayward C. Dodge. 45 Oliver Street, Boston."