Billhead of the Month: F.F. Adams Tobacco Co.

The firm’s history can be traced back to Charles Athearn of Buffalo who established the Chas. Athearn & Co. in 1847 which was located at 259 East Water Street. Cyrus Adams was the manager of a little store located at 420 East Water Street. Athearn never came to Milwaukee and on his death in 1854 his firm was sold to Adams which continued the business under the name C. Adams & Co. until 1860 when Francis F. Adams purchased his brother Cyrus’ interest (Cyrus went to California) and continued the business under the name F.F. Adams & Co. Francis was described as a sharp, keen business man. In 1884, the business was averaging $1 million a year. F.F. Adams’s tobacco factory was called the Badger State Tobacco Works. The favorite brands manufactured by the firm were, in smoking tobacco: Peerless, Excelsior, Standard, Dexter, and Old Tom; and in chewing tobacco, Aromatic, Moss Rose, Pride of the West, and Ambrosia. At some point Henry Avers becomes involved with the firm and the firm name changed to he F.F. Adams Tobacco Co.

In 1902, the Continental Tobacco Company acquired the entire capital stock of FF Adams for $2,205,090. That would be approximately $57 million in today’s value.

This is an advertisement for the firm which shows the factory.

This billhead has the FF Adams & Co. firm name with the successor name FF Adams Tobacco Company. Below the billhead is just for FF Adams Tobacco Co. Both printed by J. Knauber of Milwaukee.

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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.

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

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

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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