THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

As promised, here are some more billheads from the lot I purchased. I also have two more in the mail from a different vendor off of ebay uk. There are also several I am watching and waiting to see what my bonus is this year before I pull the trigger on them. If it is good - then they are mine - if not, then I will have to work some overtime to get them! Anyway, here are the other billheads. To the right is a billhead for Cranston & Elliott of Edinburgh Silk & General Drapers. To a Miss Douglas who bought a lot if items from them. Some of those items include: umbrellas, chemise, silk, drawers, and buttons. Next up is a clock and watchmaker billhead for James Whitelaw of Edinburgh dated 1873 for a JB Douglas. The bill is for cleaning of a gold leveer watch. I cannot find much on Whitelaw, but some of his clocks have sold at auction in the range of $2,000 -12,000. Last up is which kind of falls in the range of a bill of lading and a receipt. It is for David Hutcheson ...

I recently got more billheads from a lot of receipts I bought from ebay uk. Whenever these items arrive, I am giddy with glee at what I find. The lots on ebay do not give you everything that is in the lot, so there are always surprises. This week's lot (I have three more coming! Yippee!!) include the following: Nice example of a Florist billhead. It is dated 1847 and the business was James Kelly of Edinbugh. It is a nice engraved billhead with one side advertising Tanfield Nursey and the other Garden & Flower Seeds. The billhead was printed by E. Edmonston. The invoice was for Sir George McKenzie, bart. McKenzie bought rye grass, red clover seed, and a prunning knife. Next up is a billhead for James Young a Victual Dealer (Grocer) in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is a small billhead and dated 1850. Not fancy,but still a nice example. Now, this billhead does not have the traditional "Bought of" phrase, you might classify it as a receipt, but it is nice nonetheles...

Unfortunately, I don't have many billheads in this category. I think there might be a couple more in a billhead lot I recently purchased. Once I go through those, I will add more. Here are two examples from the lot of Edinburgh Scotland billheads I bought about a month ago. CLOTHING: A. Moffat Boot & Shoe Warehouse dated 1894. I was not able to find out anything about Moffat on google books. One for James Church Wholesale & Family Grocer - Tea and Coffee Merchant. Again I could not find anything out about this merchant. Bums be out when I can't find anything - I think I enjoy the research part more than the billhead itself sometimes. Both billheads were for a family named Borthwick - there were some famous Borthwick's but I have not been able to nail down the individuals specific to these billheads.

Here are a few examples of some guns and cutlery billheads. I think these go together and I am not entirely sure why. The cutlery trade in the United States was once dominated by Sheffield manufacturers, but in the 1860s new innovations in the U.S. allowed cutlery to move from being hand-made to machine made and thus the US cutlery became cheaper and better quality. BIGGS, SPENCER & CO. , 335 Wabash avenue, Chicago. Cutlery and Guns. The above line of goods were well represented by the old established house of these exhibitors, and the display made was especially attractive, comprising, as it did, specimens of the finest manufactures. The Florentine carved work on one muzzle-Loading gun being unique, and the engraved locks and furniture on another representing the highest class of modern engraving on metal. Breech-loaders of all the various actions evidence the great advance in sporting arms within twenty years or so, the first breech-loading shot gun (then considered a useless n...

As promised, here are some examples of billheads for powder. I stumbled upon these billheads at a local antique mall. Every time I go back there are more. I need to make a call and try to buy the remainder of these. All of these billheads also were items bought by Austin Seeley of Reedsburg Wisconsin. Seeley is an interesting character. He was born in Ohio in either 1819 or 1820. He moved to Reedsburg in 1849, being one of the first families to permanently locate to the town. Austin Seeley was a carpenter by trade and though he owned a farm he always followed carpentry as his regular occupation. At one point he manufactured guns (the Wisconsin Historial Society is possession of one) and coffins. He was one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of his community. EATON & ABBEY / E.E. EATON: Emma E. Eaton was the widow of Charles E. Eaton, a wholesale dealer in guns, fishing tackle, and sporting goods. Charles died in April, 1870. At the time of his death, he w...

Another way to collect billheads is by industry. I have tried my best to breakdown "industry" into more manageable categories. If you note I have missed any, please let me know. Agriculture = machines, mowers, seeds Ammunition, powder companies, guns, ordinance Clothing = cloaks, shawls, hats, shoes, furs, fancy goods, hosiery Coffee & Tea Commodities = iron, oil, grain, paint, coal, tin, rubber, chemicals, steel, marble, cork Custom houses / commission merchants Cutlery & Hardware Dry goods = soap, brushes, baking powder, Groceries = oysters, confections, fruits, salt, fish, flour, pork, lard Home goods = furniture, wallpaper, lamps Horse related = livery, stable, gear, harness, wagon, buggy/carriage, feed Industrial products = wire, bottles, glass, engines, boilers, scales, drill, pumps, tents, varnish, typewriters, refrigerators, fire equipment Jewelry = diamonds, watches Liquor = beer, whiskey, wine Medicine = bitters, drugs Music = pianos, organs, sheet musi...

On ebay now there are some awesome Cuban billheads for sale by ebay seller filatelia_habana . Click the name and it will get you to the listing. I have pasted one picture below of an example of one of these billheads. I think it is a particularly nice example with the cameo stamp on it. Hard to find even US billheads with cameo stamps. Just more examples that billheads outside of the US can be very beautiful. I never would have imaged that these Cuban ones could be so ornate. Here is a link to a Magazine Antiques article about Philadelphia cameo stamps .

Thought I would show you a few more of the billheads I recently purchased on ebay. Here is an example of a billhead that is in manuscript form (not printed) but written out by the proprietor. It is hard to read, but it has the billhead anatomy of the "bought of" and the items purchase. While maybe not as pretty as the printed billheads, still a valuable source of information and pretty penmanship nonetheless. The billhead is for a T. Milne of Edinburgh and dated 1809 for item purchased by Edington. The next billhead is more decorative. It is for Robert Purdie a musicseller in Edinburgh. Billhead dates from 1835 for David Cockburn Esq who bought a cabinet pianoforte and a harp. Purdie, Robert. The founder of a very large and important Edinburgh business. In 1804 he was a teacher of music in Jollie's Close in the Cannongate, but in 1805 he had gone to 3, James Street, where he remained until 1808. In 1809 he had opened a music shop at 35, Princes Street, and here comm...