About a year ago I bought my first ledger of pasted in billheads. I wanted to try soaking out the billheads and reselling them like I had been doing with scrapbooks full of trade cards. The ledger contained invoices for items purchased by a Dr. Van Horn in New York. To my delight there were a few billheads for Edward Hen tobacco dealer in New York City. The billhead was very decorative and Hen made a point to list all the items he carried in his store on the billhead.
Some of the tobacco products Hen sold included: Blackwell's Bull Durham, Carroll's Lone Jack, Kimball, Old Judge, and Spaulding & Merrick. For you tobacco card collectors - all big names in tobacco cards. Additionally, and not listed on this particular billhead, Hen sold cigar store Indians statutues. Importantly, Hen sold the figures of Thomas Brooks, a leading carver of ship and shop figures in the 19th century.
Thomas Brooks was born in New York City and apprenticed to John L. Crowell, another noted shop figure carver known for his V shaped headresses. In 1848, Brooks opened his own shop and later moved to Chicago. Brooks became known for his leaning Indian statutes. In 1855, Edward Hen approached Brooks to supply his store with carved tobacconists' figures. Brooks would supply Hen's shop with a large number of figures of all types, such as Turks, Indians, Punches and Sultanas.
For more examples of carved figures: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/vanes
Hen himself was a reclusive immigrant. He was born in the Province of Alsace in 1818. He came to the U.S. as a young man and soon had enough money to start his own tobacco store. He invested his profits in securities and bonds and had an estate valued at $2 million on his death in 1887. He lived alone in a room adjoining his shop on Liberty Street and otherwise lived in a frugal manner. During the day he would visit Wall Street and pick up information about stocks and used his knowledge to purchase.
Some of the tobacco products Hen sold included: Blackwell's Bull Durham, Carroll's Lone Jack, Kimball, Old Judge, and Spaulding & Merrick. For you tobacco card collectors - all big names in tobacco cards. Additionally, and not listed on this particular billhead, Hen sold cigar store Indians statutues. Importantly, Hen sold the figures of Thomas Brooks, a leading carver of ship and shop figures in the 19th century.
Thomas Brooks was born in New York City and apprenticed to John L. Crowell, another noted shop figure carver known for his V shaped headresses. In 1848, Brooks opened his own shop and later moved to Chicago. Brooks became known for his leaning Indian statutes. In 1855, Edward Hen approached Brooks to supply his store with carved tobacconists' figures. Brooks would supply Hen's shop with a large number of figures of all types, such as Turks, Indians, Punches and Sultanas.
For more examples of carved figures: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/vanesHen himself was a reclusive immigrant. He was born in the Province of Alsace in 1818. He came to the U.S. as a young man and soon had enough money to start his own tobacco store. He invested his profits in securities and bonds and had an estate valued at $2 million on his death in 1887. He lived alone in a room adjoining his shop on Liberty Street and otherwise lived in a frugal manner. During the day he would visit Wall Street and pick up information about stocks and used his knowledge to purchase.
Comments