Lancaster, Pa.

For other tobacco dealer cards, see S. N. Mumma and Co., Packers of and Dealers in Leaf Tobacco, Landisville, Pa. , and Benj. H. Brubaker, Dealer and Packer of Pennsylvania Seed-Leaf Tobacco, East Petersburg, Pa. Hipple Bros. & Co., Inc. Leaf Tobacco Main Office, 151 N. Third St., Philadelphia Packing Warehouse, Cor. Duke & Chestnut Sts., Lancaster, Pa.

The business card for James D. Brinser, who was the superintendent of the Crescent Electric Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The card was printed by D. B, Landis, Pluck Print, Lancaster, Pa. I relied on listings and ads in various publications for the approximate date of 1895. The Annual Report of the Factory Inspector for Pennsylvania in the year 1894, for instance, gives the location of the Crescent Electric Company as 117 East Chestnut in Lancaster, as printed on the card. In 1896, however, Brinser assigned an Electric-Motor Fan patent to the Marietta Manufacturing Company in Marietta, Pa., which suggests that fans were no longer manufactured in Lancaster by that time. By 1898, the ads for Crescent Electric Fans indicated that the Marietta Manufacturing Company made them. The Crescent Electric Co. Manufacturers of Electric Motors and Fans 111 to 117 East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pa. Electrical and general machine repairing. Armature and magnet winding a specialty. New and second-hand motors in stock. Prompt attention. Obliging service. Reasonable prices. James Brinser, superintendent. Telephone.

The Lancaster City Directory for 1903 listed John B. Martin (1875-1906) as a bicycle repairer and gave his address as 421 N. Prince Street, so it seems likely that this business card with the same information dates to about the same time. I haven't uncovered any information regarding Martin's career as a trick rider, nor have I found any reference to the athletic grounds and banked bicycle track that he operated on Prince Street. Martin died on March 19, 1906. He was only 30 years old and left behind three young daughters. David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery printed Martin's business card. J. B. Martin, Wheels to Hire Martin the Trick Rider. First-Class Bicycle Repairing. Athletic Grounds in the Rear. Come and see the new banked Bicycle Track. 421 N. Prince St., Lancaster, Pa. Half square north of the P.R.R. freight depot.

A business card for Slaymaker, Barry and Company (later Slaymaker Lock Company ). Printed by D. B. Landis of Pluck Print, probably sometime in the 1890s. Slaymaker, Barry & Co. Manufacturers of Shelf Hardware Self Locking Scandinavian Pad-Locks Lancaster, Pa. John J. Kane

This is an undated specimen list advertising some of the typefaces that David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) used at his letterpress print shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Landis originally named his shop Pluck Art Printery, but this specimen list dates to sometime after 1914, when he changed the name to Landis Art Press. Specimen List No. 15 Gothic and Sans Serif Type Landis Art Press Blair Gothic 4 sizes 6 pt. - One two three four 3 sizes 12 pt. - Five six and seven Steel Plate Gothic 3 sizes 6 pt. - Two three four 3 sizes 12 pt. - Five six and seven Inland Gothic 9 pt. - CAPS and Lower Case to 48 pt. Sans Serif Bold 24 pt. : with Lower Case 18 pt. CAPS : with Lower Case 14 pt. CAPS : with Lower Case 12 pt. CAPITALS : with Lower Case

A Halloween dance ticket printed by Landis Art Press, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who used the same decorative half moons on other tickets. See, for instance, Sophomore Barn Party Ticket, East Petersburg, October 27, 1920 and Hell'o'een Masked Dance Ticket, Lancaster, Pa., October 29, 1920 . Masquerade Ball Will be given by the Anniversary Committee of Queen of Sheba Temple No. 137 on Thursday, October 31, 1940 in new Elk's Auditorium, 452 South Duke Street, Lancaster, Pa. Music by Duke Norman. Prizes awarded. Best dressed. Most comic. Admission 55 cents.

Eight years after Alice Graybill and her sisters held their Halloween party at 718 North Plum Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the 1920 United States Federal Census recorded that the Graybills still lived at the same address. Alice was 31 years old in 1920, and she worked as a weaver in a silk mill. The census listed Alice as the owner of the home and the head of the household. There were six family members living at the house on Plum Street that year: -- Alice W. Graybill, 31, single, head of the house, weaver, silk mill -- Susan W. Graybill, 29, sister, weaver, silk mill -- Ada W. Graybill, 27, sister, cleaner, silk mill -- Weidler Graybill, 25, brother, machinist, machine shop -- Marie Graybill, 15, sister, winder, silk mill -- Grace Graybill, 12, sister, no occupation listed So at the time of their Halloween party in 1912, Alice and her sisters would have been about 23, 21, 19, 7, and 4 years old (perhaps they allowed brother Weidler at age 17 to attend, too). Alice eventurally married, and as Alice Graybill Harrington (1888-1969) she lived to the age of 80. For some other early twentieth-century Halloween invitations, see: -- Witches Watch Halloween Party Invitation, October 31, 1914 -- A Halloween Masquerade Invitation! October 23, 1920 -- Greetings for Halloween—Invitation for Revelry on Mystic Halloween, 1923 Yourself and friend are cordially invited to attend A Hallowe'en Party to be given at the home of Alice Graybill and sisters On Thursday evening, October the thirty-first nineteen hundred and twelve No. 718 North Plum Street, Lancaster, Pa. R.S.V.P.

Henry Weill (1860-1929) was a well-known horse dealer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This business card was printed for him by David Bachman Landis . For similar cards by Landis that feature text printed over a background illustration, see: -- Chas. O. Ursprung, Horse Collar Manufacturer, Lancaster, Pa. -- W. R. Cheney, Carriage Builder, Lancaster, Pa. -- William C. Myers, Practical Artesian Well Contractor, Salunga, Pa. Henry Weill, Dealer in Driving, Heavy Draft, and Fine Coach and Saddle Horses. Sale and Exchange Stables, 200 to 216 West Orange St., Lancaster, Pa. Presented by ________ Acclimated and western horses always on hand. Telephone connection.

John K. Trewetz (1864-1938), a well-known musician who lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, advertised a patented "bellophone" on his billhead, but I haven't been able to uncover any information about it. David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery created this billhead for Trewetz. M ________ To John K. Trewetz, Dr. Musical Novelties, 350 West Orange St. Lancaster, Pa., ________ 188__ Bellophone. Patented.

Caption: "Dorwart Cottage, Landisville Camp Grounds." Sign above doorway: "Campview." Postmarked in 1916 in Landisville, Pa., and addressed to Mrs. Edward Searlis, 607 W. King St, Lancaster, Pa. (and forwarded from there to 653 State St., Albany, N.Y.). Handwritten message: "Here for a week at this cottage. With love, H. Y. Sprecher." The Landisville Camp Meeting , located in Landisville , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, still exists today. The religious camp meeting consists of 27 acres that include 53 cottages and a tabernacle that seats 800, though I'm not sure whether the building pictured on this postcard is still standing.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of Halloween (costumes, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, decorations, ghosts, gravestones, or anything else spooky or scary; no limit—post as many Halloween photos as you'd like) . A photo of a man (or possibly a woman) wearing a grotesque mask, overalls, suit jacket, gloves, neckerchief, and straw hat. He's carrying a cane in one hand and a package wrapped in newspapers in the other. Could this be a Halloween costume? If so, is he dressed as a farmer? Or do the cane and package suggest a stick-type bindle characteristic of a hobo? This is an unused real photo postcard with an AGFA-ANSCO stamp box on the other side, which indicates that it may date to the 1930s or 1940s. A couple of other details point to a specific locale. First, under magnification, the heading on part of the bundled up newspapers says, "New Era," so it's possible that it was the Lancaster New Era , a paper published in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Secondly, a pouch of "Good Bite" chewing tobacco with a fish logo is sticking out of the breast pocket on the man's suit jacket. The Good Bite brand of chewing tobacco originated in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For some other disconcerting masks, see Costume Creepiness .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of amusement parks . This is a 1960s snapshot of the Gliding Swans ride at the Dutch Wonderland amusement park, which opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1963. Austen Dennison in his book, Dutch Wonderland (Arcadia Publishing, 2015), p. 21, provides some details about the swan-shaped vehicle: "A unique tram-like ride with a swan design was introduced in 1965. Beneath the swan overlay, the ride's framework consisted of a farm tractor with two trailers that carried passengers throughout the park. The Gliding Swans, as they were referred to in a 1966 pamphlet, operated for only three seasons before being removed due to increased foot traffic." For another photo from the park, see Amish Folks at Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster, Pa.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of wheelbarrows and carts . Stamped in ink on the back of this photo: "Made by Harry B. Killian, 624 First St., Lancaster, Pa." This is a real photo postcard with a Cyko stamp box on the other side that suggests a date sometime between 1904 and the 1920s. For a similar photo, see Hartman Gish, Farmer, Three Years Old, 1907 .

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St." Detail from Pluck Art Printery Receipt, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (see thumbnail image below). Pluck Art Printery, also known at different times throughout its existence as Pluck Print, Pluck Electric Print, and Landis Art Press, was a letterpress print shop run by David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) in Lancaster, Pa. On this 1890s receipt, Landis highlighted his slogan, "I Print to Please," with an illustration of a composing stick and mallet, two essential tools for setting type by hand.

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa, ________ 189__. Received of ________. ________Dollars. $____. ________." For a close-up of the left-hand portion of this receipt, see I Print to Please, D. B. Landis, Pluck Art Printery, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (thumbnail image below).

Menu from page 3 of the program for the "Fourteenth Annual Watch and Wait of the Slumbering Ground Hog Lodge of Quarryville, in Pennsylvania," February 2, 1921 (see below for a transcription of the text). For additional information about the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, see an enlargement of the groundhog illustration on the front cover of the program for the lodge's 1963 celebration, the full front cover of the program , and the back cover of the program . Ground Hog Day, Nineteen Twenty-One Ground Hog Feast Hotel Weber, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the Garden Spot of America. To sleep or not to sleep? That is the question. Whether 'tis weather-wise thus to suffer The stings and arrows of a Borean Winter, Or, by retreating to a cozy corner, burrow, and end them, To sleep, to hibernate and by a six-week nap To say we end the backache and the rheumatism And the hundred ills woodchucks are heir to, To hibernate! To sleep! Perchance to dream-- Aye, there's the rub! For in that death-like sleep What dreams may come, eke make me suck my paws, For who would prophesy and shake and shiver In an advancing cold wave and storm When he at once might rest and comfort take By getting in out of the wet. Menu Celery, Olives, Oysters on the Half Shelf, Vegetable Soup Stuffed Turkey, grown in Colerain Township Turkey Giblet Sauce Mashed Potatoes, raised in East Drumore Candied Sweet Potatoes, product of Beggar Row Cranberry Sauce, as sassy as can be made Quarryville Peas Salads, a la Eden Township Ice Cream, frozen in Lancaster Cakes Coffee, direct from Brazil, grown especially for ground hogs

An elaborate business card printed by David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery (later known as Landis Art Print). The wavy, wiry vertical lines that Landis used to separate the "Special Attention" section on the left from the main "E. Oettel" portion of the card come from a set of "Capital Ornaments" dated 1891 that was available from the Barnhart Brothers & Spindler (BB&S) type foundry. Landis also used these separators in a number of other printed pieces. See, for instance, the following examples: -- Charles S. Frantz, Graduate Ophthalmic Optician, Watchmaker, and Jeweler, Lancaster, Pa. -- A. H. Herr, Mill Creek Dairy, Lancaster, Pa. -- J. M. Trout, Fire Sand Quarries, Landisville, Pennsylvania, ca. 1890s BB&S also sold a set of "Brownies" characters that included the tiny owl in the upper left-hand corner. Typefaces: Duerer ("Fancy Bakery and Confectionery"), Pynson ("All kinds of Cakes, Pies, Creams, Water Ices, and"), Hansard ("Home Made Bread"), Dante ("No. 506 Manor Street, Lancaster, Pa."). The unidentified typeface used here for "E. Oettel" appears to be the same as the one selected for "J. M. Trout" on the J. M. Trout, Fire Sand Quarries card. E. Oettel, Philadelphia Reliable Fancy Bakery and Confectionery. All kinds of Cakes, Pies, Creams, Water Ices, and Home Made Bread. No. 506 Manor Street, Lancaster, Pa. Special attention given to wedding and party orders. Stands at Eastern, Central, and Southern Markets.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of a skyscraper, rowhome, or any other type of building you might find in a city . Caption: "City Hall, Lancaster, Pa. Built 1795 on ground deeded by Andrew Hamilton in 1730." The Old City Hall building in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has "housed city and county offices, a Masonic lodge, a post office, and library." A Heritage Center Museum was located there for several years, and it currently serves as a visitor's center. This real photo postcard shows the building at a time when streetcars still used the tracks in the pavement and the electrical wires overhead. Check the Google Street view to see how the Old City Hall and its surroundings look today.