Architectural Stationery Vignettes

The images in this post all come from Columbia University's very large assortment of commercial stationery (featuring architectural illustrations): the Biggert Collection.

The vast majority of the images below have been cropped, cleaned and variously doctored for display purposes, with an intent towards highlighting the range of letterform/font and design layouts. The underlying documents are invoices (most), letters, postcards, shipping records and related business and advertising letterhead ephemera from the mid-1800s to the 1930s.

Stewart Iron Works Company (Cincinatti, Ohio) 1926

=Manufacturers of iron fence, gates, jails, prisons and steel cells, 

iron reservoir flower vases, lawn settees, ornamental iron and wire work=

Consolidated Engineering Co. (Baltimore, Maryland) 1914

=Engineers & Contractors. Building-Refrigeration-Paving. Reinforced Concrete=

Manchester Beef Co. (Manchester, New Hampshire) 1893

=Commission Merchants in Swift's Western Dressed Beef. Mutton lamb, 

veal, tongues, tripe &c. Poultry a Specialty. Telephone Connection=

Evening Leader Book + Mercantile Printing (Carbondale, Pennsylvania) 1908

=The Leader guarantees the largest circulation of any paper in its field. Carbondale 

typographical union label. Job promptly executed. Book and mercantile printing=

Colwell Lead Company (New York, New York) 1912

Mast, Buford & Burwell Co. Agricultural Implements (St Paul, Minnesota) 1893

L. P. Peck Furniture and Carpets (San Antonio, Texas) 1905

Allentown Manufacturing Co. Breing's White Lead (Paint) (Allentown, Pennsylvania) 1903

{reminds me of something}

=Ready mixed oil paint. Car, ship, bridge paints. Metallic oxide 

paints. Paste & liquid wood fillers. Filler & stain combined. 

Oil stains. Oil finish. Japans. Asphaltum varnishes &c &c=

Edwin B. Stimpson Company Rivets (Brooklyn, New York) 1925

=Cable address "Splitrivet" Brooklyn, NY. Eyelets, grommets, hooks, automatic 

machines for attaching. Drawn and stamped metal articles, washers, wire forms=

Loring, Short + Harmon - Booksellers & Stationers (Portland, Maine) 1886

=Wholesale and retail and dealers in paper hangings. Manufacturers of blank books=

James A. McCafferty + Sons Mfg. Co., Inc. National White 

Lead and Color Works (Brooklyn, New York) 1938

=Manufacturer of the original genuine combination gold seal whitelead. 

Bedford prepared house paints. National liquid house paints. 

Copper paints for ship bottoms. Anti-fouling paints. Deck & floor paints. 

Gloss paints for barrels. Graphite paints in paste or liquid form. Pure putty. 

Our colors are the best made in strength and purity. Varnishes & Japans=

Wm. S. Taylor + Co. Wholesale Lumber (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 1899

"Dear Sir;- 

I regret exceedingly to report that my wife has a very painful carbuncle on the side of her head, which is very stubborn, and no doubt it will detain us here until Wedensday or Thursday morning. We had made every arrangement to leave Phila. to-morrow at 8.20am.

The writer will wire you on Wednesday next, or sooner, when you may expect us. As we have said before we are looking forward to enjoying your lovely resort but it would be most imprudent to leave home as conditions are at the present time.

With best wishes, I remain,
Yours truly,

Wm S Taylor"

Carbon Dioxide and Magnesia Company (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 1900

=Liquefied carbonic gas and appliances for its use. 

Montgomery and Twenty-Ninth st Philadelphia=

Edward D. Depew & Co. Importers & Wholesale Grocers (New York, New York) 1908

=The Crest brand of canned goods will convince the public of their 

superiority by trial of them. Teas and coffees specialties. All claims for damages

 or deduction must be made within FIVE days after receipt of goods. We will make 

no allowance for swells in canned goods after 30 days from the date of purchase=

Whittier Fuller Paints [later: WP Fuller & Co.] (Oakland California) 1890s

=Sole agents for French plate glass companies 

- crystal sheet 21&26 ounces - and Valentine's 

varnishes. Doors, windows and blinds, wallpaper, 

moldings etc. Terms cash - payable in U.S. gold coin=

Egyptian Lacquer Mfg. Co. (New York, New York) 1913

Frank H. Lester Wholesaler of Bananas (New York, New York) 1904

=Ripe and shipping bananas all through the year. Commission merchant foreign fruits=

Hadfield-Penfield Steel Company (Willoughby, Ohio) 1923

=Clay working machinery, fuel oil engines, Liberty lathes, 

bakery machinery, ship deck machinery, cement machinery, 

rotary dryers, industrial locomotives, steel and grey iron castings. 

Direct connections with all telephone & telegraphic services=

Munn Wired Envelope Company (New York, New York) 1900

=Capacity 5,000,000 envelopes a day=

Hoffman Corr & Hoffman Corkram & Co.

Contractors to the Government

=Rope, yarn, wick, waste, bags, twine, excelsior, moss, oakum, nets, 

wadding, batts, awning stripes, burlaps, flags, hammocks & cotton duck=

Park Avenue Hotel (New York, New York) 1899

Parry Mfg. Co. (Carriages) Indianapolis, Indiana 1912

=The largest carriage factory in the world. Buggies, surreys, 

phaetons, driving wagons, spring wagons, delivery wagons + carts=

Thomas P. Beals Co. Pine Ash + Hardwood Chamber Sets - 

Woven Wire Matresses (Portland, Maine) 1890s

John Lucas + Co. Colors Ready Mixed Paints (PA NY NJ) undated

S. F. Leonard Seed Farmer + Merchant (Chicago, Illinois) 1890s

=Onion sets, bulbs, grass seeds, market garden trade a specialty. 

While we exercise the greatest care to have all seeds pure and reliable, 

we sell no seeds with warranty, expressed or implied in any respect, 

and are not in any way responsible for the crop. If the purchaser does 

not accept the seeds on these terms, they must be returned at once=

Williams Bros. Co. Picklers (Detroit, Michigan) 1906

=Manufacturers of Waldorf and Dragon brand food products. Pickles, vinegar, mustard, catsup, preserves, mince meat and other fine table condiments. Branch factories and salting works=

The New Home Sewing Machine Co (Orange, Massachusetts) 1910s

Walter Brewing Co. (Pueblo, Colorado) 1911

"The Robert Biggert Collection of Architectural Vignettes on Commercial Stationery was donated to the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library by Robert Biggert in honor of Lisa Ann Riveaux. This unique collection of printed ephemera contains over 1,300 items with architectural imagery spanning the dates 1850 to 1920, in more than 350 cities and towns in forty-five states, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. possessions. The collection's billheads, letterheads, envelopes, checks, and business cards document the rise of the United States as an industrial nation, in often elaborate vignettes of factories, warehouses, mines, offices, stores, banks, and hotels."

The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University (hosts of the collection) also link to a lengthy article (from the mid-1990s I think) by the collector himself: [pdf warning-->] 'Architectural Vignettes on Commercial Stationery', by Robert Biggert IN: Ephemera Journal [Volume VIII]. Well worth a read.



Related? Maybe: Banknote vignettes :: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Typography :: Ornamental Typography :: Deco Vignettes :: Header Vignettes.

Insect Wall Charts

The images here are from the 

Historic Entomology Online site 

at Wageningen UR

"Araneina epeira"

Araneus^ is a genus of common orb-weaving spiders. 

Araneus was formerly called epeira and it remains a pseudonym.

Pseudophyllus neriifolius^ (bush cricket)

Valanga nigricornis (yellow or shorthorned grasshopper^)

Vespula vulgaris^

(common wasp)

Forficula auricularia^ 

(European earwig)

Locusta migratoria^ 

(African migratory locust)

Erysiphe graminis (deprecated)

Ascomycetes ersyphales^

{powdery mildews .. not quite insects}

Die Mehlmotte

Ephestia kuehniella^

(Mediterranean flour moth)

Mucor mucedo^

(soil fungus distinguished by the formation of sporangia: also not quite an insect.)

Pediculus vestimenti aka Pediculus humanus aka Pediculus corporis

(body lice)^

Heliothrips rubrocinctus^

(Red-banded thrips : tiny, cigar-shaped, flightless, 

feather-winged, tropical fruit-loving insects)

Melolontha vulgaris

(may-bug or cockchafer^ or sprang-beetle)

Myriopoda lithobus

(Myriopoda - or Myriapoda - is a sub-phylum of Arthropoda^ 

containing the segmented critters: centipedes and millipedes)

Labrum, maxille, mandible, mandibula

(schematic of insect mouth parts^)

Periplaneta americana

The American cockroach^ (native to Africa)

Apis mellifica^

(Honey bee from the insect order, Hymenoptera^)

Schematic diagram of Lumbricus (earthworm^) species

A cicada^ species

Calandra granaria

(a type of grain weevil [genus now called Sitophilus^])

The selection of wall chart images was taken from the *Wall charts Entomology and Phytopathology* collection out of the Special Collections Digital Library at Wageningen University and Research Centre (Holland). [Special Collections]

The linked caret ^ characters nestled in the insect image captions above lead to a wide range of entomological sites for anyone wanting to delve deeper into the world of creepy crawlies, or for those seeking extra credit points.

Previously:

• Old German Zoological Wall Charts
• Dutch Botanical Wall Charts
• Wageningen Wall Charts
• Nuclear Reactor Wall Charts

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Many site visitors know that all BibliOdyssey posts are summarised and tagged at the Delicious bookmarks site. This will continue unchanged.

But I've also recently started a PINBOARD bookmarks account - the intention here is to save the same BibliOdyssey blog posts (but with more detailed tags) PLUS add links to significant exhibition & research database sites (you know: the usual art/book etc fare of this place).

So it will hopefully end up being something approximating a permanent edited collection of the BibliOdyssey twitter feed. Does this all the sense be making? It's to help me keep track of everything essentially, but others may find it helpful in warding off boredom, ignorance and vampires.

The Whaling Naturalist

"American whale oil lit the world. It was used in the production of soap, textiles, leather, paints, and varnishes, and it lubricated the tools and machines that drove the Industrial Revolution. The baleen cut from the mouths of whales shaped the course of feminine fashion by putting the hoop in hooped skirts and giving form to stomach-tightening and chest-crushing corsets. Spermaceti, the waxy substance from the heads of sperm whales, produced the brightest- and cleanest-burning candles the world has ever known, while ambergris, a byproduct of irritation in a sperm whale’s bowel, gave perfumes great staying power and was worth its weight in gold."
'Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America' by Eric Jay Dolin, 2008

The images below come from 'The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast of North America' by Charles Melville Scammon, 1874. It seems from his name that Scammon's destiny was pre-ordained. [via]

"The order of Cetacea, as established by naturalists, includes all species of mammalia which have been created for inhabiting the water only; and although their forms bear a strong resemblance to those of the ordinary piscatory tribe, still they are animals having warm blood, breathing by means of lungs, and frequently coming to the surface of the water to respire.

In nearly all Cetaceans, the nostrils — termed spiracles or spout-holes — are situated on the top of the head. Through these the thick vaporous breath is ejected into the atmosphere to various altitudes, according to the nature of the animal in this particular respect; and through the same orifices a fresh supply of air is received into its breathing system. Although the Cetaceans are strictly regarded as mammals, they have no true feet; their pectorals being in the form of heavy, bony, and sinewy fins, while the posterior extremity of the body terminates in a broad cartilaginous limb of semi -lunar shape, frequently termed the caudal fin or tail, but known among whalemen as the "flukes," the lobes of which extend horizontally."
[Scammon in the Intro. to 'The Marine Mammals of the North-Western Coast..' {alternative}]

California Grays among the ice

Appearance of a female humpback suckling her young

Embyros of a California Gray Whale

Humpbacks lobtailing, breaching and finning

The Sulphurbottom (Sibbaldius sulfureus, Cope.)

Fig. 1. The California Gray Whale (Rhachieanectes claucus Cope.) 

Fig. 2. The Finback (Balaenoptera velifera, Cope.)

"The heroic and often tragic stories of American whalemen were renowned. They sailed the world’s oceans and brought back tales filled with bravery, perseverance, endurance, and survival. They mutinied, murdered, rioted, deserted, drank, sang, spun yarns, scrimshawed, and recorded their musings and observations in journals and letters. They survived boredom, backbreaking work, tempestuous seas, floggings, pirates, putrid food, and unimaginable cold. Enemies preyed on them in times of war, and competitors envied them in times of peace. 

Many whalemen died from violent encounters with whales and from terrible miscalculations about the unforgiving nature of nature itself. And through it all, whalemen, those “iron men in wooden boats” created a legacy of dramatic, poignant, and at times horrific stories that can still stir our emotions and animate the most primal part of our imaginations. “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme,” proclaimed Herman Melville, and the epic story of whaling is one of the mightiest themes in American history."
'Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America' by Eric Jay Dolin, 2008

A northern whaling scene

The Bowhead or Great Polar Whale (Balaena mysticetus. Linn.)

1. Humpback (Megaptera versabilis Cope.) 

2. Sharp-headed Finner (Balaenoptera davidsoni.Scammon.)

Right whale of the North East coast (Balaena sieboldii, Gray.)

Sperm whale in search of food

Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus, Linn.)

Implements belonging to a whale boat

1. Oar 2. Boat-waif 3. Boat-hook 4. Paddle 5. Boat-sails 6. Sweeping-line-buoy 7. Lead to Sweeping line 8. Chock-pin 9. Short-warp 10. Boat-piggin 11. Boat-keg 12. Lantern-key 13. Sweeping-line 14. Boat-hatchet 15. Lance-warp 16. Boat-grapnel 17. Boat-knife 18. Fog-horn 19. Line-tub 20. Boat-bucket 21. Drag 22. Nipper 23. Boat-crotch 24. Boat-compass 25. Boat-anchor 26. Row-lock 27. Tub-oar-crotch 28. Hand-lance 29. One-flued-harpoon 30. Toggle-harpoon 31. Boat-spade 32&33. Greener's-gun-harpoon 34. Greener's harpoon-gun 35. Bomb-lance 36. Bomb-lance gun

Whaleboat with Greener's gun mounted

Whaling Scene in the California Lagoons

Charles Melville Scammon (1825-1911) was a whaler, naturalist, and author. Rather than do a poor job of repetition or regurgitation, I recommend you read the presentation post from Harvard's Iceberg blog:

"Charles Melville Scammon, was an unconventional man for the 19th century, being both a naturalist and a whaling captain. Scammon was born in Maine, where he skippered a number of merchant vessels across the Atlantic. Like many other Americans in 1849, he turned his attention westward with the Gold Rush in hopes of gaining a better living. In California, he commanded a number of whaling vessels during the 1860s and 1870s, becoming the first to hunt the gray whales off the California/Baha coastline and eventually contributing to the near extinction of the species. Ironically, he was not just an accomplished hunter, but also a careful and passionate observer of marine life and behavior, filling up numerous journals and sketchbooks during his voyages...[more]"

• 'The marine mammals of the north-western coast of North America described and illustrated : together with an account of the American whale-fishery' 1874 by Charles Melville Scammon is available online via Harvard University. [also: Internet Archive]
• "The Whaler who became a Naturalist" (book chapter) by Dick Russell. [W]
• The biographical chapter on Scammon is accessible at Google books from 'Early American Nature Writers: a Biographical Encyclopedia' by D Patterson (2007) [Amazon].
• 'Scammon: Beyond the lagoon : a biography of Charles Melville Scammon' 1986 by LB Landauer (Pacific maritime history series).
• CM Scammon titles at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

"All that most maddens and torments; all that stirs up the lees of things; all truth with malice in it; all that cracks the sinews and cakes the brain; all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it."
Herman Melville: 'Moby-Dick', 1851