Storefront Graphic then and now

Recently, on a buying trip to my favorite paper dealer I purchased a 1885 billhead for John Pritzlaff Hardware Company (Limited) – Hardware, Iron & Metals located at 41, 43, 45, 47 & 49 West Water Street in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The left side of the billhead has a nice storefront graphic. John Pritzlaff was a Prussian immigrant who arrived in Milwaukee in 1841. In 1850, he started a hardware company. In 1884 the company was incorporated as the John Pritzlaff Hardware Co., and eventually it became one of the leading wholesale hardware firms in the Midwest. His son, Frederick Pritzlaff became president of the John PritzIaff Hardware Co. on his father's death, and served in this capacity from 1900 to 1951.

When I was researching this billhead on google, I came across the Milwaukee Streets blog which had an indept article on the Pritzlaff building today and its restoration. I thought it was really neat to compare the storefront graphic on the billhead to the actual building.

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THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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