New Arrivals
Nursery Rhymes in Advertising,Spool Thread,The House That Jack Built
Florence and Leeds, Massachusetts: Nonotuck Silk Co, c.1882. An amusing parody of "The House That Jack Built", rewritten to promote Corticelli brand spool silk thread, manufactured by the Nonotuck Silk Company in Florence and Leeds, Massachusetts. The rhyme begins, "These are the Mills 'Corticelli' built" and continues to show how.....
Price: $200.00
Coloring Books,Learn to Paint
N.pl: N.p, 1860s. A handsome early coloring book for children, comprised of six (6) illustrations with bright hand-coloring presented opposite identical black and white line drawings for children to use to imitate and learn to paint with. All of the scenes depict children at play. Marked "No. 82" on cover.....
Price: $150.00
Beauty and Hygiene Tips for Women
Boston, Massachusetts: A.B. Courtney, 1895. A small booklet of beauty and hygiene tips for women, published in what is referred to on the cover as the "Smallest Magazine in the World". This issue, published in July 2895, is Vol. 2, No. 19 of the so-called "Multum In Parvo Library" published.....
Price: $125.00
Barnum & Bailey,Novelty Advertising,Circuses
N.pl: Barnum & Bailey, n.d. A charming piece of novelty advertising, promoting Barnum & Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth". The front appears to be a novelty printing "plate" of sorts, with a line drawing of clowns with a mule on the front printed on glazed paper. The directions at the.....
Price: $100.00
Sex Education in the Military
Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Society for Social Hygiene, 1941. A brief guide to venereal disease published for "the man in uniform", published in 1941 just before the U.S. entered WWII. Provides information on gonorrhea and syphilis, with tips for avoiding the diseases (e.g. wearing condoms or abstinence). Perpetuates myths about gender.....
Price: $175.00
Advertising Premiums,Encyclopedias and Dictionaries,Autodidacts
Buffalo, New York: The Larkin Soap Mfg. Co, 1899. A printed booklet promoting an advertising premium by the Larkin Soap Manufacturing Company, an "Encyclopedic Dictionary". To obtain the premium, customers send away for the company's $10 box of "soaps and toilet necessaries", and receive the set for free (a nicer.....
Price: $125.00
Paints and Lacquers
Cleveland, Ohio: The Monarch Paint Company, c.1909. A printed circular for "Hydro-Carbonite" brand paint, marketed as "Perfect Protection at lowest cost for roofs of all kinds, bridges, factories, smokestacks, warehouses, and all outside surfaces exposed to weather". Touts it as anti-rust, non-porous,fire resistant, and "acid proof". Includes lengthier pitch inside.....
Price: $100.00
The Flu,History of Pharmaceuticals
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: John Wyeth & Brother, c.1860s. A printed prospectus advertising chemical preparations by John Wyeth & Brother of Philadelphia, all intended for the treatment of influenza. Most likely circulated to pharmacies, druggists, or medical practitioners, it offers the following information about the medicines: drug name (e.g. "Antipyrine"), recommended dosage.....
Price: $150.00
Love and Marriage, Newlyweds,Best Wishes
[Pennsylvania]: 1870s. An attractive printed token of friendship, wishing marital happiness to a couple, surrounded by embossed floral Victorian scraps and a blue and white accordion decorated paper border. Roughly translated, the verse reads: "To the wedding feast. A firm bond you have forged around your hearts today. May it.....
Price: $175.00
Menu Cards,Oysters and Seafood
[Albany, New York]: The Union News Company, [1927]. Two (2) 1920s menu cards for table and counter service at The Union News Company in Albany. Each menu card shows pricing for oysters on the half shell, clams (including little neck and cherry stone), stews, and fried oysters, clams, or scallops.....
Price: $100.00
Patent Medicine Advertising,Pulmonary Diseases,Family Medicines
Boston, Massachusetts: Thomas Hollis, Druggist, 1860s. A printed advert for "Hollies' Balm of America", a patent medicine marketed as a "cure" for pulmonary afflictions including bronchitis, asthma, coughs, and colds. Measures approx. 7" by 8", verso blank.
Price: $150.00
History of Cartoons and Comic Strips,Humor,Drawing and Illustration
Paris, France: Librairie Plon, n.d. (c.1900?). One of a series of humorous illustrated books by Caran d'Ache, the pseudonym of popular cartoonist Emmanuel Poire (1858-1909). Includes three parts in one volume, together offering nearly one hundred fifty pages of line drawn comic strips. Includes racist/stereotypical depictions of the time; other.....
Price: $150.00
Barbers' Supplies and Furniture
Chicago, Illinois: Theo. A. Kochs Company, 1903. A 1903 illustrated catalogue for the Theo. A. Kochs Company of Chicago, advertising a large range of high-end barbers' supplies. Content includes a description of terms and shipping instructions and over a hundred pages of products for sale. The products are illustrated with.....
Price: $225.00
Parisian Fashion,Women's Fashion,Edwardian and Turn-of-the-Century Fashion
New York, New York: H. & B. Sirotta, 1901. A near-complete example of the October 1901 issue of "Le Succes", marketed as "The Best, Richest, and Most Practical Fashion Journal of Paris and the World. This issue includes twelve of the original eighteen plates, most of which have been hand-colored.....
Price: $175.00
Exercise for Children,Rowing,Marketing Exercise as Play
Leominster, Massachusetts: W.S. Reed Toy Co, 1890s? An advertising leaflet for "The Harvard Parlor Rowing Machine", marketed as "The BEST TOY for EXERCISE and SPORT EVER MADE". Manufactured by W.S. Reed Toy Co. of Massachusetts. Features illustration of a young boy using the machine on the front. Promoted at a......
Price: $100.00
Science Museums and Exhibits,Human Anatomy
New York, New York: New York Museum of Science and Industry, c.1938. A 1930s promotional card for an exhibit at the New York Museum of Science and Industry featuring "The Transparent Woman", a plastic anatomical model showcasing human anatomy. Notes on verso that there is a special reduced rate for.....
Price: $100.00
Archery,University of Connecticut
[Storrs, Connecticut]: c.1945. An album of ephemera documenting the college archery career of Marion Marquardt [Hull] (1924-2011), a University of Connecticut student who was a member of the school's archery team. She eventually became a homemaker, gardener, and quilter who lived in Guilford, Connecticut. The ephemera in the album includes.....
Price: $200.00
Patent Medicine Advertising,Family Medicines,Rebus,Die-cut
Washington, D.C: Ogram Chemical Co, c1890. A color-illustrated advertisement for Wier's Lemon Seltzer, marketed as a cure for headache, dyspepsia, nervousness, indigestion, and brain fatigue. The bifolium has been die-cut and illustrated to depict an anthropomorphic lemon "before" and "after" taking the seltzer. Inside is a sales pitch for the.....
Price: $250.00
Hydrotherapy,Alternative Medicine
Crieff, Scotland: Strathearn House, 1880s. A beautifully produced map and pamphlet promoting Strathearn House, a Scottish resort founded in 1868 that offered medical tourists hydrotherapeutic treatments for a range of ailments including indigestion, nervous disorders, paralysis, and "Female complaints". Lists Thomas H. Meikle, M.D., as the resort's resident physician. The.....
Price: $250.00
Sexually Transmitted Infections,Race and Access to Medical Care in America,Booker T. Washington
Fort Worth, Texas: Bragg Printing Co, 1934. A printed lecture on Syphilis given by R.A. Ransom, M.D., Ph.G., during "National Negro Health Week" in 1934. Held yearly in the first week of April, the multi-day event was formed as a direct response to the Booker T. Washington's 1914 research showing.....
Price: $250.00
Cocktail Recipes, Celluloid, Art Deco
United States: 1930s. A 3.5" by 1.75" novelty cocktail recipe booklet designed in the shape of a smiling hotel bellhop with serving tray. Includes eleven cocktail recipes each printed on 0.75" by 1.25" cards, secured together with metal rings attached to the bellhop. Recipes include Dry Martini, Old Fashioned, Rob.....
Price: $225.00
Lead Paint,National Housing Act of 1934
New York, New York: National Lead Company, c.1935. A printed booklet issued to American families by the National Lead Company, promoting lead-based paint for home exterior painting with information on how to know when it is time to paint, with illustrative photos. Includes a brief section on how to fund.....
Price: $150.00
Sex Education,Exploitation Films,Hays Code
Los Angeles, California: Road Show Attractions, 1955. A mid-1950s sex education booklet by one "Dr. Homer Blodgett" (probably a pseudonym) first published in the 1940s and also published in the form of a short film. The film, cited by several sources as an example of 1940s "exploitation" films, essentially uses.....
Price: $250.00
Slate Drawings,Advertising to Children
New York, New York: Belding Bros. & Co, c.1900. A book of "useful and instructive" slate drawings published for school children by Belding Bros. & Co., manufacturers of silk thread and embroidery floss. Each page has a full-page image for children to duplicate on their slate with chalk, along with.....
Price: $125.00