Joseph Henshaw Billhead and Boston Stock Auctions

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:

Stock Auctions - In New York, Boston and Philadelphia the auctions provide a public market for the unlisted securities which is of some importance. These auctions are usual held weekly. Odd lots of local unlisted stocks usually provide the bulk of the trading. The auctions are also a convenient dumping ground for obscure and frequently almost worthless issues when an estate is being settled. Sometimes a long list of such securities will be offered "in one lot." The auctions attract bargainhunters who frequently find wheat among the chaff. Occasionally such a trader will buy for five or ten dollars securities which turn out to be worth thousands thereafter. In the case of well known unlisted stocks the auction prices provide some check on the quotations of dealers. (pp. 32-33).

A famous recent example of a stock auction was Google initial public offering.

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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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