Next Year, 1900, Life Returns!

Phew!  Someone saw the light.  One year after the drab eviscerated corn adorned the back cover came this collection back there. 

 The cover is an unambiguous celebration of the Livingston's Seed new tomato, Magnus!  Notice the twine trying to hold up the heavy truss of fruit?

The onion and parsley are printed with only two colors I think.  Nice, very nice, for the money. 

The other day I showed you the fantastic carrot engraving.  This radish illustration is a similar, though less whimsical, production.      
It makes it easy for you to compare features.  It is a clear presentation of useful information.

Confession: I am a sucker for ribbon labels :-)

While I am in my catalog critique mood, look at this illustration of the Magnus tomato from inside the catalog.   Pathetic, isn't it?  This catalog is straddling the engraving/photo illustration divide.

They must have seen this is so much less inviting than the engravings.

I suppose having the company seen as forward thinking, using photography, was more important.

The catalog used both in 1900.

Tomatoes are not the easiest vegetable to represent in a catalog without color.  Especially as men like A.W. Livingston bred them to be smooth, featureless globes. 

 Below is an earlier engraving.  I find it much more lively.  Their plumpness just plumps at you!  The perky little calyx look like crowns.

More tomorrow...probably straying into tomato land, but maybe not.