Tidying Up: Carrie and Sam - Art and Business

Focus.... I really need to focus more on why I first was drawn to seed catalogs, packets and other paper ephemera - the engravings!  But first...I should finish up for now the Carrie and Sam story.

 Here is an overview of her style.  Saccharine and usually not whimsical.

If you want to see tons of these charming Lippincott covers just view this Google image search for C. H. Lippincott!  Me, I have seen enough for awhile.  I DO like them...but it like when I finish off the Xmas fruitcake...I love it while it is here but sincerely relieved when it is gone!

Remember how Sam Haines was puffing his new color catalog for 1898 in Philadelphia?  I bumped into a repro of its cover being sold on eBay this morning.  It is the only image I have found anywhere - so far.

Another interesting thing is this ad which was in Carrie Lippincott's first catalog.  She cleverly sold some ad space to the railroad.

How much of the catalog text was her writing I wonder.  You can clearly see her self confidence growing along with the business in the early catalogs. The pride and enthusiasm is gone in 1914.

Links:
• Read or download the 1896 catalog.  Nice.
• Read or download the 1899 catalog.  Nice and improved.
• Read or download the 1914 catalog.   Awful.  More successful competition seems to have won.

The Internet Archive is a wonderful place.