Part II - Wetherill Billhead - The Eagle Graphic

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 Kneass and Dellaker, and of Kneass, Young and Co. His engraving office in Fourth Street above Chestnut was a rendezvous for the leading wits and men of letters of that day. He engraved a number of pictures and did good work on illustrated books. Married, first, in 1804, Mary Turner, daughter of William Honey- man, by his wife Jane nee Davison (1785-1826), and, secondly, Jane Kramer (d. 1854). He had six children by his first wife.

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Australian Billheads

As promised from by last post, here are some examples of Australian billheads I found on the website Print and Printmaking Australia Asia Pacific . Based on the Australian print collection at the National Gallery of Australia there is free online access to over 22,000 images. The databases can be searched by artist, subject or print techniques such as etching, woodcut, wood-engraving, linocut, lithograph, screenprint, monotype and other print related processes such as posters and artists books. Index to online information on printmakers, print workshops, print publishers, print galleries and public and private collections.

CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY

I regularly purchase goods and paper at a local online auction. In December, I noticed that a lot of random estate / household goods also had a small pile of what looked to be calendars. I won the lot and sure enough it included many advertising calendars. Many of those were for the Capewell Horse Nail Company of Hartford Connecticut. These calendars were damaged, but the color and graphics were still very bright. Last week, I happened on a lot of paper through ebay that included a billhead for the company. Attached are photos of all for your enjoyment.

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...

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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