Promptitude is Appreciated

I love testimonials!  Two whole pages of testimonials from Briggs and Bros. happy customers were featured in the 1972 catalog.  These encomia are, I need to admit, were often carefully chosen from the more formal newspaper reviews, so they do not have the maximum of folksy charm.  Still and all, the period mind set that carefully crafted the two pages is interesting to observe, and the testimonials are still of interest in themselves!

 

The following is interesting.  I'll have to see if other seedsmen make as big a selling point of their assortment strategy.

Can't forget a cabbage or two :-)

 Couldn't resist the globular magnificence of this Cluster Tomato.

You can find the entire catalogs at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

More Clever Seedsmen from Rochester, New York - Briggs & Bros.

What a treat it must have been in the 1870s to have the Briggs & Bros. catalog arrive in the mail.

They had a clever hook to tempt people to send for their catalog - and then buy $5 of seeds or more,  a very nice original chromolithograph of flowers. I suspect the print was displayed in many homes. They are certainly sought by collectors now!

While we can't see them in this dinky little image, there are tiny numbers by the flowers that correspond to a key.

BRIGGS & BRO'S
Illustrated And Descriptive Catalogue Of Flower And Vegetable Seeds, And Summer Flowering Bulbs,

FOR 1871.

Is now ready for mailing. It is printed on a most elegant new tinted paper, and Illustrated with nearly

FIVE HUNDRED ORIGINAL ENGRAVINGS,

And two finely-executed Colored Plates—specimens for all of which were grown by ourselves the past season, and from our own stock of seeds. All the drawings and engravings were executed by Artists of acknowledged taste and ability, who have made the subject of Floral and Vegetable representations a special branch of their business for the last eighteen years. In the originality, execution, and extent of the engravings, it is unlike and eminently superior to any other Catalogue or " Floral Guide" extant.

The Catalogue consists of more than One Hundred Pages, and will be sent free to all who ordered Seeds from us by mail the last season. To others a charge of Fifteen Cents per copy will be made, which is really not the value of the Colored Plates. We assure our friends that the inducements we offer to purchasers of Seeds, as to quality and extent of stock, discounts and premiumB, are unsurpassed. Please send orders for Catalogues without delay.

We have now the beet artists in the country at work upon A COLORED CHROMO FOR 1871. It will be ready to send out about the middle of January. The Chromo represents Forty-Two Varieties of the moBt showy and popular Flowers, of natural size and color. We design to make it the best plate of Flowers ever issued. Size 1!) x 24 Inches. The retail value would be at least Two Dollars; we shall, however, furnish it to customers at 75 cents per copv, and shall offer it as a premium upon orders for Seeds. See Catalogue. Address,

BRIGGS & BROTHER,

ROCHESTER, N. Y.

I found this image on eBay sometime ago but had not seen the chromo until recently.

Here below is the chromolithograph from 1871.

Unfortunately, I have not found the literature with the key for 1871 yet!!  

Seed boxes and Seed Packets of Hiram Sibley Co.

Gifts keep raining from the sky...or at least, cyber space!
I  just bumped into these photos of Sibley's  display boxes and seed packages and packets!  I had never found any seed packets before.  I don't know why I hadn't, given the size of his operation.

These plump bags filled with seeds and tied with what was probably red string are the first I have seen of this type package from any company.  Packages are so ephemeral it is alway exciting to find them!

This following box seems to have been varnished at some time and it has darkened.

A Few Extra Bits Concerning HIram Sibley and His Seeds

Link:  A fun to read, eccentric history of Rochester that pays homage in one part to Sibley!

From Seed Savers and many other sources you can still buy the Sibley Winter Squash.  

If you are really interested in Cornell or Sibley in more detail, the following is interesting :-)

 

KIckstarter Project: Seed - The Untold Story

Visit the Project Page.  

"Entertaining and engaging, SEED follows heroes working tirelessly to preserve agricultural diversity as well as the rich knowledge held by indigenous cultures. These farmers, scientists, and seed collectors such as Gary Paul Nabhan, Bill McDorman, Vandana Shiva, Harald Hoven, Native American Emigdio Ballon and Winona LaDuke are the visionaries and caretakers of many of the world’s remaining seeds. On an absorbing journey following a diverse cast of characters, we will witness a brave new movement as these heroes struggle to create a vibrant web of biodiversity and resilience.

SEED will reveal the awe, wonder and hidden beauty of seeds. It will ignite the imagination of audiences, inspiring them to be part of a new movement to help sustain seed diversity. We will unearth the resilience and power that all seeds have to sustain, enliven and enrich our humanity. "

1946 - A Flower Picking Garden

 I love the old New Yorker covers - and not just because they give me something nice to post when I haven't had time to do a post for this blog!!