Graphic Billheads

Graphic Billheads - Stores

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 brother took it over and changed it to his name. The building looks the same, but the corner of another building previously shown has been eliminated so that the customer only can look at the Nazro building. Looks more imposing without anything around it.

Next up several 1870s billheads. Some of which I have shown in previous posts. Henry Sears & Co. of New York, McKesson & Robbins of Philadelphia, Barnes and Van Duzer of New York.

Notice above the signage Sears shows on the building. Much more imposing than the Nazro billheads.

McKesson too has a lot of signage on the outside of its building. Nice picture of a trolley out front too and an American flag on the roof.

Less signage on the Van Duzer building, and instead of people walking by out front, this store graphic has men working and loading wagons out front.

Lastly the Barnes Building. Shows people and men loading wagons out front. Lots of signage along the front and side of the building too.

Next up graphic billheads with animals (so I can show off my recently purchased Veterinarian Billhead).

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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.

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...

Newest edition to my collection - Widdicomb Furniture Co.

Lately, I can't help but buy some U.S. letterheads and billheads. I have an affinity for billheads / letterheads / receipts from the 1870s. Here is a recent purchase for the Widdicomb Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids Michigan. For 145 years, the Widdicomb name has been recognized in the furniture world. The earliest Widdicomb company was organized in 1857, by George Widdicomb, a British trained cabinet maker, employing 12 men, plus his four sons Harry, William, George Jr., and John. Except during the Civil War, a Widdicomb furniture firm was run by the family until 1916. The John Widdicomb Co. was founded in 1897 when John left the parent company to form his own firm. Though he died in 1910, that firm continued under his name until the 1990’s, and purchased the title of the original company in the 1970’s.

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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