Links: Sharing the Wealth of Seed Related Archives

I have to share this all in a lump, as what I post is often such a mishmosh of what I am thinking there isn't really a specific citation, or I forget to do them.

This morning I came across the Smithsonian's fine page compiled by Marca L. Woodhams,
Librarian, Horticulture Branch, 
Smithsonian Institution Libraries,
 December 1999
I haven't started to mine it yet.

The Internet Archive is a bottomless pit of cool stuff.  

You can bathe in seed catalogs there once you find the
Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection.
All the great catalogs that Google Books has no "Read" privileges
for are here in their voluptuous entirety!!!!

Don't forget the fun and fast searches that can fill a few minutes and give you a chance of stumbling on something extraordinary.  Go to eBay and search for Vintage Seed Packets, or search in Google Images for the same.  You always have the chance of spotting something special or new!  Tally Ho!!!!!

Google Books can be a bit of a slog but worth it if you are feeling terrier-like. Don't forget to set the date parameter under the drop down Search Tools menu. I once had an Airedale who was a charming washout in most traits doggy being nearsighted and rather dim, but if she got the idea there were rats around she would hunt until exhausted.  Remember, if Google Books lists it as No Preview it might be elsewhere in full.

Happy New Year 2014!

No Clue What This Lady Is Up To!

Umm...any clue?

Happy New Year Cactus Head!

I  do love looking through eBay postcards for appropriate cards  :-)  

      

A Suitable Job for a Woman in 1863 - Seed Enveloper

Below is an eye opening reference in this excerpt from the 1863  The Employments of Women: A Cyclopaedia of Woman's Work to how a woman could not literally fit into some jobs because of their bulky clothing!!!
 And it mentions how it was a problem in a work environment when it rained as the women took half a day to get dry before they could start; could that be accurate?

The Landreth building to the left is typical of Philadelphia in the early 1800s.
While that building was demolished, a block from there at Market and 7th the buildings are still around.  Dreer's Seeds on the right is on Chestnut St. in Philadelphia.

When I went to college in Philly in the 70s Market Street was a gritty time warp place that only needed horse drawn  vehicles to look like it used to.  Things seem different now in Google Street View!  Some days the winds were so powerful in this area as I walked around I would try and see how far I could lean into them before tipping over.  I can't imagine walking to work in voluminous skirts!!!!

1863 - The Employments of Women: A Cyclopaedia of Woman's Work

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.

Found It!

Ta-da!!  I found the old squished envelope of seeds gathered by my Gram in the chest where I keep old photos.

 It wasn't unmarked, her scrawl on the envelope says, Beans Kentucky Wonders.

 Gram was legally blind since she was in her mid 30s. By her 80s, when she squirreled this away, she hadn't seen her handwriting for decades.



Those old photos were in an album she made in her early 20s.  To think, she saw the effects of both the amazing Wright brothers and men on the moon!!! That is Gram below.  Read the little newspaper clipping...Josiah Dow is her father.

And I found that Miss. C. H. Lippincott was Carrie H. Lippincott.  It was in her 1900 catalog.

The mysterious Mr. Haines really was her brother-in-law.  Samuel Y. Haines, who visited Chicago with his wife, Miss Carrie's sister, had a Philadelphia seed business in 1887. He traveled around visiting seed suppliers and going to industry events. I wonder, was the train service from Philadelphia to Chicago  better then, or now? (Later: Found an answer! See this Quartz page. )

Minneapolis...the W-I-L-D west?!!

All of Sam's snippets from

Miss Lippincott's Rabbit Hole

Did you ever feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole?  All the fascinating facts and mysteries about the seed business popping up as I look around seed history have my eyes spinning in my head.

 Trying to go to sleep last night I kept thinking someone must have written a thesis on women owned seed businesses.  (And, no, I haven't looked yet.)

 But take a moment and fall into this illustration from C. H. Lippincott's 1898 catalog.
 A LARGE version is here.

What is C. H. short for anyway?  Rabbit holes abound!  And don't forget Mr. Haines - I haven't.