THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

No. 5. = Billhead for John Stainton Printer, Bookseller, Bookbinder and Stationer, Dealer in Paper Hangings, Floor Cloths, and Table Coverings, Music and Musical Instruments, in great variety, Agent for London and Countey Newspapers, Bibles and Prayers in plain and elegant bindings, Genuine Patent Medicines. No graphic on this billhead. Dated 1840. John Stainton is listed in Slater’s National Directory under Booksellers and under Printers located at 305 High Street. No. 6.= Billhead for Thomas Winn Linen and Woolen Draper of Lincoln. Billhead has a left side graphic of a woman in flowing garb holding a shield that states Funerals Furnished. Lion in background and ship too. Engraved by Thomas. Dated September, 1826. No. 7. = Two billheads for Winn & Whitton Linen and Woolen Drapers Funerals Furnished. First one has a left side graphic of a seated smiling woman this time with a lion under her feet on the coast with a ship in the background and the woman is sketching on a pad ...

As promised, below are pictures and informative information about the wonderful eight billheads I bought online two weeks ago. One item to note about billheads, is while I tend to think of them as letter size or slightly smaller, some of the other UK billheads I own are very small. My guess is that making them smaller was a cost savings and also easier to package along with the article purchased. I also wonder if the standard letter size was not the standard back then - thus the smaller form. Most of the billheads are from business of Lincoln in the UK. Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England. The Lincoln Cathedral was completed in 1092 and rebuilt after fire and an earthquake in 1185. The Bishops of Lincoln were among the magnates of medieval England. Lincolnshire, the largest diocese, had more monasteries than the rest of England put together. One of the four surviving originals of the Magna Carta is now preserved in Lincoln Castle...

Tobacco advertising in America first appeared in 1789, when the Lorillard brothers advertised their snuff and tobacco products in a local New York daily paper. Advertising for tobacco, and most other products, over the next 70 years took this same form - mostly unadorned advertisements in local or regional newspapers. It wasn't until the 1840s that brand names slowly began to appear on labels. Customers traditionally would ask for the "best" product, rarely requesting a specific brand, when they purchased their tobacco from the local grocer, or possibly from a traveling peddler. After the Civil War, there was an increased demand for tobacco products in general. The tobacco companies used trade cards (similar to business cards), tin tags and posters to advertise their products. Color lithography developed in the late 1870s, and businesses could now promote themselves with a variety of attractive colorful images, some having nothing at all to do with any of their product...

A receipt is an acknowledgment of monies received. Receipts can be in manuscript format (handwritten) or in printed format. The printed receipt first appeared due to the levying of taxes with later adoption by charities, universities and other commercial enterprises. Soon security devices were added to the receipts to counteract counterfeiting. Rickards states that the earliest British receipts are those for lighthouse dues papers in use in the 17th century and later port dues in use in the 18th century. The 19th century started a proliferation of receipts in all manner of life. Some of the most coveted American receipts includes those involved in whaling and slavery. It is also among the most commonly encountered ephemera. One thing to note about receipts is the utilitarian form. Receipts are not highly decorated, nor do they tend to carry stylized printing. The receipt was a means of putting in writing what one received. One area of receipt collecting to consider is that of...

I am also giddy with glee over an ebay auction I won this afternoon for 8 awesome 1830s and 1840s billheads. I thought for sure I was going to have to spend a bundle but $56 won the lot. I tried sniping manually for the first time and it worked really well. I haven't decided if I want to try a sniper program yet. Anyway, here are two billheads I bought separately on ebay UK. I will show off the others when I receive them.