Collecting Geographically: Don’t short change the United Kingdom.

One area that I like to collect billheads from is the UK. As you can imagine, UK printers printed some really nice elaborate and beautiful billheads. While trade cards didn’t take off in the UK as much as they did here, billheads are the exception. Recently I bought two lots of billheads from a dealer on ebay uk. As the dollar rises against these currencies, look for bargains amongst these European sellers. Be sure to go directly to the websites every now and again as not all items show up on the US ebay.

One example is billhead for James Howden a watch maker and jeweler in Edinburgh Scotland. The date on the billhead is 1824.

HOWDEN, James. Booked apprentice to Alexander Farquharson, Edin.,1764 — admitted freeman clockmaker, E.H., 1775. This well-known maker commenced business at 3 Hunter's Square, which premises he occupied till about 180.9, when he retired. He was succeeded by his son, also named James, who was admitted a freeman in 1809 — in 1825 he was at 56 North Bridge, while another brother, named John, was in business at 9 Waterloo Place — no trace of either after 1836.

A Handbook and Directory of Old Scottish Clockmakers from 1540 to 1850 A.D.
By John Smith p. 46.

Another nice and early billhead is that for Christopher Binks of London. This is a really early billhead dated 1806. Very very nice graphic is the shop with the word New Doyley's written on the outside of the building. The shop sold Ladies' Habit Coats, Gentleman's Cloaths, Liveries & c. completely made on the shorteft notice.

I found a mention of the shop being in Doyley's Warehouses from a London Directory printed in 17917.

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Baking Powder Billheads

In 1843 the first modern version of baking powder was discovered and manufactured by Alfred Bird, a British chemist. In 1846, Justus Von Liebig in Germany experiments with yeast made from sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid with explosive results. In 1885, Eben Horsford and George Wilson manufacture chemicals which eventually became the Rumford Chemical Works. Horsford formulated and patented Rumford Baking Powder, the first calcium phopshate baking powder. In 1889, William Wright and chemist George Rew developed a double-action baking powder marketed under the name Calumet Baking Powder. Below find some examples of baking powder billheads.

Rubber Goods

The rubber industry in the United States can hardly be said to have had any real and tangible existence until the discovery of the process of vulcanization in 1844 by Charles Goodyear. The first rubber ever imported into this country was brought into Boston in the year 1800 and came in In that same year a patent was granted to one Jacob Hummel, of Philadelphia, for a gum-elastic varnish; of which, however, there seems to have been no further mention. Some ten years later, in 1823, a Boston sea-captain, coming from South American ports, brought with him a pair of gilded rubber shoes which excited the greatest interest. Two years later, 500 pairs of rubber shoes, made by the natives along the Amazon, were brought into Boston, this time without the fantastical refinement of gilding. They were exceedingly thick, clumsy, and unshapely shoes, and yet they sold readily, bringing from $3 to $5 per pair as they were found that they were a secure protection against dampness. This was the e

Billhead of the Month: Schmit Bros trunks Oshkosh WI

I picked up this Schmit Brothers billhead recently in Eau Claire. I currently have it for sale on ebay right now. It is a nice triple graphic billhead. Here is my ebay write up: 1895 billhead for The Schmit Brothers Trunk Company manufacturers of trunks, traveling bags and valises of Oshkosh Wisconsin. Great header graphics with three images. Left side is the firm’s mill at Summit Lake, middle is the firm’s factory and left side is the firm’s warehouse. Billhead has creases. Peter Schmit was born in 1840 in Prussia. He emigrated to the U.S. in June 1854 and located inRacine WI. He was engaged in farming until 1861 when he enlisted in Company D, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He engaged in the battles at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Mine Run, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah. He was mustered out in June 1865. He came back to Racine and kept a hotel until 1866 when he joined his brother Henry’s trunk business. Henry had established the bus

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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