Ah...June

The Baltimore Bolgianos: Perseverance, Sadness, Recovery

I posted a few days of info about the old firm of Bolgiano & Son. Their history is a bit confusing with many Bolgianos drifting in and out of the business over more than a century.  Some even went out on their own and established new seed companies away from Baltimore! (More on that some other day) This outline is for the Baltimore Bolgianos.


Bolgiano Business Family Tree

• 1818 - Joseph A. Bolgiano, Founder 
• Joseph A. Bolgiano and son John in partnership? Hence the "Bolgiano & Son".
• 1895 (a bit before then) - John Bolgiano sues Joseph A. Bolgiano after partnership was dissolved 
• 1897 - Brothers Charles J. Bolgiano and Roland Bolgiano are partners
• 1913 - Roland Bolgiano retires
• 1920 - Oct.27 - Bolgiano & Son in receivership
• 1920 - Nov. 19 - death of Charles J. Bolgiano
• 
  

 ________________________

OBITUARY

Charles J. Bolgiano

Charles J. Bolgiano, president of J. Bolgiano & Sons, seedsmen of Baltimore. Md, was found dead seated in his automobile in his garage at the rear of his home, 8 Elmhurst road, Roland Park, Md., at 7:15 a. m., November 19. The body was found by his son, Charles Alfred Bolgiano. who said when he opened the garage doors the place was filled with black smoke and gas from the engine of the machine, which was running. The hood over the engine was open and his father, he said, was on the front seat, directly behind the steering wheel. Dr. J. Joyce, North and Fulton Avenue, brother-in-law of Mr. Bolgiano. and Dr. M. Gibson Porter were summoned. They said it was their opinion that death was caused by heart failure, brought on by the gas from the engine of the automobile. The son said his father arose at 6:30 o'clock that morning and heated water to pour in the radiator of the machine so that the engine, which was chilled, might be easily started. He said he saw his father enter the garage and close the doors behind him. When he heard the engine running, he said. he went to the garage to join his father on the trip down town. Coroner Morrissey rendered a verdict of accidental death due to poisoning by carbon monoxide gas. Later in the day, W. Thomas Kemp, attorney for Mr. Bolgiano. and one of his close personal friends, gave out the following statement:

“Charles J. Bolgiano was suffocated by motor gas in his garage at Roland Park about 7 o'clock this morning. Shortly before 8 o‘clock his eldest son, going to the garage, discovered the accident, and at once summoned the physicians, who, however, were unable to revive his father. From all information obtainable, the death of Mr. Bolgiano was clearly accidental. He arose at the usual hour this morning, bathed, dressed and went to the garage to fix his automobile, which had been giving him trouble for a day or so.  He started the engine, but did not open the doors, and his son later went to the garage to assist his father and found the place filled with smoke and fumes from the automobile, with the engine still running, and his father unconscious. Mr. Bolgiano's death at this time is particularly sad and unfortunate. He had suffered business reverses which precipitated bankruptcy about a month ago, but only yesterday at a meeting of the larger creditors which Mr. Bolgiano and his brother and other members of the family attended, a plan of reorganization was submitted, which was received favorably, and sufficient funds had been pledged by Mr. Bolgiano's brother and other relatives to finance the plan and rehabilitate the business.

“I attended this meeting with Mr. Bolgiano, at the Baltimore Trust Company, and later Mr. Bolgiano came to my ofiice. where we remained until late in the afternoon yesterday. Before leaving he made an appointment to call at my office at 10 o'clock this morning to complete preparations for the reorganization. At this .time he seemed very cheerful and optimistic. His death is a great shock to me personally, for he has been for many years past not only a client, but a close friend."

At the time of his death Mr. Bolgiano was 42 years old. 

He and his brother, Roland Bolgiano. now of Los Angeles, Calif. succeeded their father, the late Joseph A. Bolgiano, in the seed business in 1897. They conducted the business as partners until about seven years ago, when Roland's health broke down. He resigned from the firm and went to California to live.   On October 28 last receivers were appointed for the business - after Charles J. Bolgiano was adjudicated a bankrupt by consent in the United States district court. It was stated in the papers that his assets, consist— ing of land, buildings, stock in trade and securities, were more than $l.000,000, but he admitted he was insolvent. The receivers appointed were George Weems Williams. W. Calvin Chestnut and W. Thomas Kemp.

The firm was incorporated on November 13 last and Charles J. Bolgiano was elected president. Roland Bolgiano said the day of his brother‘s death, that the new concern of which his brother was head was progressing rapidly and that the stock in the Pratt and Light street store amounted to over $150,000.

Surviving him are his widow. who was Miss Emily Cullen Robinson; his sons, Charles Alfred and John Norman Bolgiano; his daughters. Misses Nora E., May, Emily M., Mary Virginia and Charlotte A. Bolgiano; his brothers, Roland and Frank W. Bolgiano. the latter of Washington, D. C.. and his sister, Mrs. J. Burch Joyce.

Mr. Bolgiano was high in Masonic circles. of which he was a thirty-second degree member. He was connected with the Scottish Rite and Mystic Shrine. He was a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Roland Park.

The business was established over a century ago, in 1818.

               _______________________

1921

Plant A Radish, Get A Radish.....

My husband and I frequently quote The Fantasticks.  "Quick the mask!", we say as some awful news comes on the TV or some other unpleasant event.

On the lighter side of the famous musical is this song.  If you do not know it, listen to this YouTube selection!  It is the perfect summary of being a parent during those awkward times.



Plant a radish.
Get a radish.
Never any doubt.
That's why I love vegetables;
You know what you're about!

Plant a turnip.
Get a turnip.
Maybe you'll get two.
That's why I love vegetables;
You know that they'll come through!

They're dependable!
They're befriendable!
They're the best pal a parent's ever known!
While with children,
It's bewilderin'.
You don't know until the seed is nearly grown
Just what you've sown.

So
Plant a carrot,
Get a carrot,
Not a Brussels sprout.
That's why I love vegetables.
You know what you're about!

Life is merry,
If it's very
Vegetarian!
A man who plants a garden
Is a very happy man!

Plant a beanstalk.
Get a beanstalk.
Just the same as Jack.
Then if you don't like it,
You can always take it back!

But if your issue
Doesn't kiss you,
Then I wish you luck.
For once you've planted children,
You're absolutely stuck!

Every turnip green!
Every kidney bean!
Every plant grows according to the plot!

While with progeny,
It's hodge-podgenee.
For as soon as you think you know what kind you've got,
It's what they're not!

So
Plant a cabbage.
Get a cabbage.
Not a sauerkraut!
That's why I love vegetables.
You know what you're about!
Life is merry
If it's very
Vegetarian.
A man who plants a garden
Is a very happy man!

A vegitari-
Very merry
Vegetarian!

Compare and Contrast - Different Decades of Design

Yesterday I posted a handful of similarly styled seed company stationary from 1875, '76 and '80 which used multiple fonts and no images.  Today's examples are just 3 years later and have a much more exuberant style with fancy fonts and images and even color!

 Nice postcard design.

This is an oddball design.  It is like some wedding invitation with a corn cob on the side.  

I love Henry Maule's  pride in his business.  "The handsomest seed warehouse in America"!!!

Ye gods...

 This McCullough's envelope is a something of a hybrid...the old typefaces over a subtle image.  Nice.

Breck had a formal take on the arrangement.  The old multiple typefaces and a puppet theater presentation of the graphic.

This one is boring.  All the joie of a funeral arrangement.

 Not to say everyone was getting into the florid designs.  Below, Ferry is quite sophisticated.  Check out this typeface and design! Very modern, the dernier cri of fonts.  

By the way, I am only chatting away here based on my general knowledge...so I may be totally off base.  

I don't think I am, mind you, but this is not a scholarly page - just a casual observation. 

Seed Company Letterheads, 1875 -1880

These are sedate examples of letterheads, predating the late late 1800s' more elaborate style that included engravings.  If you remember the advice given to everyone at the beginning of web page design, that of NOT using every font available, these designs will catch your attention for thumbing their nose at such a rule!

And what about the wonderful penmanship here?

Garden Accoutrement

Yesterday I went to Lowe's to get a new bit of hose for a tiny pump I use in a stock tank that is my pond.  It manages to dribble enough water up onto a side rock to attract insects for a drink, (and aerate the water).  The pump is smaller than a tangerine but is going strong.

Once at the store I wandered by the pond supply section on the way to the potting soil I needed for my cherry tomatoes.  Since pumps are down a dead end aisle in the opposite corner of the garden center from the soil it was a "guided wander" for sure...but I really had intended to only buy the replacement tubing for the old pump!  Anyway, I chose the smallest of the beefy pond pumps; rated to lift water about 7 feet, the size of a coffee mug on its side, a nice long power cord.

When I got home I took an old piece of bamboo that is big enough to hide the water tubing, smashed out the internal webbing, and threaded the tube down it.  I hooked it up to the pump, lowered the pump in among the surprised pollywogs and plugged it in.  Water fountained from the end of the bamboo in several directions, following a crack.  Great!   Then the mosquitoes decided the sun had gone down then  so today I get to play with the aesthetics of the thing. (I'll take some pictures today.)

All this news is to explain why I don't have a horticultural blog offering!  I've been lured outside.

I did get some cool pics off ebay yesterday though...here is one from someone else who once loved their garden pond.

Speaking of Tiger Lilies...What's In A Name?

"As the Chinese name for this lily, it was adopted by Ker Gawler in 1810 as Lilium tigrinum. 
In Japan the name is oniyuri which means ogre-lily. 
Thunberg working on Japanese material named it in 1794 as Lilium lancifolium."  
Above from The Pacific Bulb Society  
Visit them for a nice reference to the many basic varieties.

Google translate has oniyuri = オニユリ= tiger lily

In the world of naming things, whoever gets there first wins.  Taxonomists use the earliest documented name.  In this case it wasn't known at first,  but was corrected.  This is not unusual, especially in earlier centuries when communication of discoveries was not as advanced.  You can imagine how important it is to respect this rule! 

From Flora of North America:  
"Throughout most of modern botanical history this Chinese lily has been known as Lilium tigrinum, but recent nomenclatural reassessment affirms that Thunberg’s description, published sixteen years earlier than Ker Gawler’s, applies to this species. 

A nice book I found is Lilies of Japan by  Kabushiki Kaisha. I think the title really is Lilies of Yokohama but that is only a guess.  No text, but many nice illustrations, including his one.

The

Though many North America species are known vernacularly as tiger lilies, the name is properly applied only to this one. Along with L. candidum, it is considered to be among the earliest domesticated lilies (H. D. Woodcock and W. T. Stearn 1950), no doubt because it is handsome, easy to grow, and the bulbs are edible and substantial. It is widely planted in North America, usually as a sterile triploid that is best propagated from the bulbils.

Perhaps the hardiest garden lily, Lilium lancifolium is a widespread but sporadic garden escape, and roadside lilies near habitation in eastern and northeastern North America are often this species. Despite its general use in gardens, it seems to be naturalized only in the better-watered eastern portion of the continent." 

(In NE CT it spreads like mad given a bit of dirt for the bulbil to fall on.  I suspect tight turf might slow it down.)
There are a few cultivars grown in gardens - (from http://alanjolliffe.blogspot.com/2010/01/lilium-lancifolium-tiger-lily.html)

L. lancifolium ‘Flore Pleno’ (l.l. Florabunda) which has large double flowers.

L. lancifolium ‘Giganteum’ a larger growing form

L. lancifolium ‘Splendens’  with large glossy flowers of a rich salmon red colour.

L. lancifolium var flaviflorum a yellow purple spotted form which does set seed.

L. lancifolium var. fortunei with densely woolly stems

L. lancifolium var. simplex a single flowered form

L. lancifolium var. plenescens which has six series of petals and sepals.   

















Likable Links: 

• Wonderful obsessive site of Biology Through Stamps...
• Dutch link to a fantastic page of period illustrations of lilies and info. Home page cool, too
• http://fossilsandotherlivingthings.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html   Super! More detail on the Thunberg/Gawler deal.
• Flavor and Fortune - Recipes for lily bulbs and flowers.  NOTE:  "The bulb of the tiger lily mentioned above, Lilium lancifolium, is not used, but the pre-opened flower is in common use."
• Eat The Weeds - interesting, plus a photo of a cow wearing a methane capture bag. :-)

Pussy cat alert:Although humans eat tiger lily bulbs, all parts of the plant are toxic to cats, causing kidney failure and death.