THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

I am a huge fan of both coffee and tea. There were so many companies out there, that this would be a great collecting area to get in to. I do collect tea billheads, but that is because they fit into my collecting category of US and UK Billheads re-1840. I will purchase billheads beyond my 1840 range if they are particularly nice - usually only if they are UK billheads. I have my eye on one right now from 1853 that is graphically awesome. I will post it if I win the thing. Coffee billheads are mainly a US issue. Coffee companies advertised a ton - think of all the McLaughlin, Arbuckle and other coffee cards out there. If you like the trade cards, maybe you should also consider adding a billhead from the companies to your collection. The more I sell billheads, the more I learn about what people want to buy. I always thought the graphic was the huge seller, but more and more people email me questions about the products that were purchased on the billheads. Ba...

Another interesting collecting area is that of billheads for cracker and/or biscuit companies. First, a little history. Crackers are an American invention. In 1792, John Pearson of Newbury, Massachusetts made a cracker-like bread product that he called "pilot bread". It became a hit with sailors because of its shelf-life - some of you know it by its other names hardtack or sea biscuit. In 1801, another Massachusetts baker, Josiah Bent, burnt some biscuits in his oven and the crackling noise that emanated from the oven gave way to the term "cracker". By 1840, three cracker varieties were on the market - butter crackers, soda crackers and sugar biscuits. Because crackers were less perishable than bread and thus more widely distributed. Since crackers were unleavened production was simpler and easily mechanized. In 1845, the Kennedy bakery in Arlington Massachusetts introduced steam power to run its machinery and fleets of wagons were soon leaving the factory. Crackers...

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.

Funeralia consist of memorial cards, funeral service programs, billheads, undertakers' announcements, printed fans, and printed armbands or ribbon badges are all ephemera. I know, kind of a morbid subject for Easter, but these billheads are certainly interesting. Did anyone see the woman's mourning ring collection on Antiques Roadshow last week? I have to say, the rings were neat, but I never would have thought to collect them. Here are several examples of funeralia billheads - note that most have coffins and some have the hearse carriages on them. The cameo coffin is an excellent billhead - I can't get vampires out of my head everytime I see it. I also like the early Australian billhead. I found a website that will hopefully yield more Australian billheads for a future post. Check out The Victorian Funeral for more interesting information - limited availability on google books.

Starting the 1840s stove and heating ranges were designed and by the turn of the century there were over 7,000 patents. By the end of the Civil War designs had become affordable enough that there was a surge in putting stoves in homes. The first large family purchase typically was a large stove. Wealthier families had their pick of stoves designed for specific rooms. The competition was fierce and many companies advertised their products with large colorful trade cards which carried over onto their billheads. In order by date follow some examples: Nice plain 1819 stove billhead. Note the simplicity of the stove. The Youle billhead is an early American example that includes both a graphic and decorative typeset. Dated 1822. The stove is more decorative than the 1819 example. 1845 and the stove still looks similar to Youle's product. Note the plain billhead style of this compared to the Youle. This 1857 example is of a heating stove vs. the cooking stoves of above. Nice bil...

Thought I would show off the two billheads I acquired from ephemerafly on ebay uk. I have had my eye on them for awhile and decided that I had to have them, so I made an offer on one which was accepted and the other was reasonable and just clicked the buy it now. The first billhead is for Jno Schneider Skinner & Furrier Succesors to M Kleinart dated 1802. Highly graphic with banners across the top with a center crest and has two animals on both sides. Banner reads across Kleinert, Furrier of the Robes in Ordinary to his Majesty. London address. I especially love the animals on this billhead. On the scan you can see the plate press marks. Item bought was a 2 black bear tippets. A tippet is any scarf-like wrap, usually made of fur, such as the 16th century zibellino or the fur-lined capelets worn in the mid-18th century. Furrier of the Robes means that Kleinert made clothes for the King. There were two Kleinerts that were Furriers to the Robes, Tobias Kleinert in 1759, S....