THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

I was searching through ebay uk yesterday and typed in the search term "invoice". When searching on any ebay or google be sure to use other terms than billhead like "invoice," "receipt" and "statement." I have had lots of look buying cheap billheads under these terms. Anyway, my invoice search turned up some interesting billheads. Ever wonder how billheads were mailed. Well, in the UK here are some pictures - the billhead was either wrapped in cover paper or folded like a stampless letter would be. Really very neat. These billheads were listed under the Stamps category on ebay uk. Postal covers are a huge collectible area and I recently started researching. In the US a lot of billheads were mailed in graphic advertising envelopes. I will post examples and more info on these tomorrow. Above is what the folded billhead would look like when mailed. Below is the billhead after being opened. Two more folded examples and fold outs.

Here are some examples of billheads with factories.

As promised, here are some nice examples of animals on billheads. A 90 day terapeak search turned up a lot of horse and cow/bull examples. However, overall animal graphics are uncommon on billheads. First example is the veterinary billhead for the Duke of Buccleuch for vet services for horse (castration being one of the services - yikes!). Nice graphic of a healthy and strong horse. Next up a nice billhead with a wonderfully adorable dog. Now how about a bull. Finally, let's not forget the eagle from the Wetherill billhead. Next up - graphic billheads with factories.

Here are some nice examples of store front graphic billheads. Typically shops are overstated and grandiose in order to instill in the customer the importance of the shop in question and to illicit more business. Think of it in the context of many billheads being printed in the Gilded Age - the age of wealth, big business and robber barons. The stores and shops had were competing for business and the bigger the store the more important. The first example I have, doesn’t fit into the Gilded Age time frame, but it is interesting as it is the earliest billhead in my collection that has a shop / store front on it. I have shown it before in a previous post, but here is a close-up of the store for Christopher Binks. Next up in the time line is the Henry Nazro & Co. billhead from the 1850s. Notice the large opulent store in downtown Milwaukee. With passerbys and carriages out front. Next up is an 1870s billhead for John Nazro & Co. Henry Nazro got out of the business and his bro...

This is a sort chart of basic graphic categories. There are lots of billheads out there that don't fit these categories so, this is only a quick referenced. I will show some examples in the next few post. Categories of Graphics: Exteriors = storefronts, factories, hotels & farms, trade signs, and harbor Interiors = store interiors, hotel interiors Animals = livestock, horses, whales, eagles, lions, deer, fowl, Machines = trains ,carriages, agricultural equipment, engines Products = cutlery, groceries, gravestones, coffins, guns, goods, teeth, clothing, beer, china, lumber, tobacco, tools, coffee, Signboards = squares, ovals, circles People = tradesmen, Indians, Cameos

Another way to narrow done your collecting areas is to collect billheads based on the graphics (or lack thereof) on the document. In the early 19th century, few billheads had graphics and most were in manuscript form (i.e. handwriting only no printing). However, keep in mind that UK billheads did have graphics. As printers became more sophisticated and more printing houses opened, graphics made there way onto billheads. From DeSimone’s article on Rhode Island billheads, early graphics typically fell into three categories: products, services and views. DeSimone notes that the most popular products shown were stoves, ranges and furniture. The most popular services shown were undertakers, blacksmiths and coal dealers. As far as views, the most popular depiction was of the business premises. This is a great area to collect. I will have some examples in the next post of places of business. Another view involved the company showing off their factories. These are a little harder to ...

I highly recommend searching through the ebay buy it now items as most of them do not show up in a search. Some do, but 80% do not. I was combing through them the other day and ran across a neat billhead for Joseph L. Henshaw dated July 23, 1860. What initially caught my eye was the item purchased - 2 Shares of Mass Cotton Mills. Hmmmm - could this be stock shares? A closer look at the header of the billhead at the small writing and sure enough that must be what the shares are. Specifically the header of this billhead states as follows: Joseph L. Henshaw Auctioneer No. 6. Merchant Exchange . . . . . State Street, Boston Stocks, Bonds, and Other Securities, sold by Public Auction every Saturday. Stocks and Bonds bought and sold on Commission. While this billhead is very plain, it is a great part of stock auction history. I went on google books (my favorites researching tool) and here is what I found out about stock auctions. From The Art of Speculation by Philip L. Claret : Stoc...

The third and last installment of the Wetherill billhead deals with who bought the barrel of fish oil and where it went. The purchaser on the billhead is listed as “Major Butler.” Unfortunately, Major Pierce Butler died in 1822, so maybe this is just from his estate and children. The item bought was a barrel of fish oil. Then the following notation: Shipped on the ship Globe, J.L. Hamilton master, commissioned to John McNish, Savannah, by order to Hugh Colhoun. Payment received signed by S.P. Wetherill.” Hugh Colhoun became representative of Major Pierce Butlers estate. Colhoun came to by in charge after Major Pierce Butler's son, Thomas, decided to relinquish control over the estate. Colhoun had dealings with Stephen Girard in Philadelphia. Major Pierce Butler ( July 11 , 1744 - February 15 , 1822 ) was a soldier, planter, and statesman, recognized as one of United States ' Founding Fathers . He represented South Carolina in the Continental Congress and the U.S. Senate...

A close look at the wonderful eagle graphic on this billhead says a alot about Wetherill. As mentioned in yesterday's post, Wetherill became one of the promoters and managers of the United Company of Philadelphia for the Establishment of American Manufactures. On the graphic, the eagle is holding a banner in its beak which reads, “Encourage Your Own Manufactures !!!” What a fitting motto. The graphic also is signed by the engraver. The engraver of this billhead was Kneass S.C. The only Kneass I can find a reference to is rather famous himself. Kneass worked as an engraver in Philadelphia from 1805 to 1840, and became the second chief engraver of the United States Mint on January 29, 1824. He was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, educated in Philadelphia, and became a copper and steel-plate engraver and an artist of considerable repute. In 1824 he was appointed engraver and die-sinker of the United States Mint, in Philadelphia. Prior to that time he was a member of the firms of K...

The next three posts I am going to talk about a recent purchase of mine off of ebay. I full picture of the billhead is above. A watched this piece like a hawk and have to say was shocked that I won it for $10. This is an awesome early billhead with an even more awesome graphic of an eagle (I will write about the significance of this eagle in tomorrow's post). Part I: Who was Samuel P. Wetherill? The founder of the manufacture of chemicals was Samuel Wetherill, Jr., who about 1789 started the first white-lead factory in the United States, and who, though giving his attention to other manufactures, yet established at Wetherills drugstore, No. 65 North Front Street, the oldest and most extensive manufacture of chemicals in the country. There have been four generations of Wetherills druggists in Philadelphia. Samuel, the founder, was a Quaker preacher of such talents and virtues as to attract to his ministrations the most eminent people of his day. He wrote " An Apology for th...

I love ephemera dealing with the stock market, purchase of stocks, bonds or the like. I also have a nice board game collection associated with this theme. I recently purchased off of ebay a collection of letters and billheads for J.B. McGeorge of New York. The billheads are very plain, but they are the only ones I have seen that advertise for selling of RR Bonds and Stocks. They include the coveted “bought of” line to. I have pictured below the two billheads I bought. Each has a signboard graphic on the left side. Both are dated in the later part of 1880. McGeorge sold Commercial Paper, City RR Stocks & Bonds and his orders were executed on the New York Stock Exchange. I was only able to find out very little about McGeorge and nil on the purchaser of the HW Silverman notes HB Hawley of Connecticut. Based on a search of the NY Times article archive (highly recommend this). The trick is to read every article that pops up with your search as several articles are buried within...

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 was a partner in the firm of Eaton & Abbey. A codicil of his will directed his wife to continue the business either under her own name or as copartner with others. Emma Eaton continued the business under Eaton & Abbey until August 1870, at which point she purchased the interest of the surviving partner for $8,000. Her entire stock of goods and other tangible property were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of October 9, 1871. Eaton realized $17,000 from insurance and another $6,000 from collected book accounts, she continued her business after the fire and paid off all her current liabilities at the time. She continued the business under the name “E.E. Eaton” for nearly 16 years. Now for the billheads: The first one is for Eaton & Abbey with the E.E. Eaton stamped in...