Benjamin Tanner's Stereographic Safety Checks

A few years or so ago I purchased an early billhead printed by B. Tanner. I really liked it and got interested in Benjamin Tanner. Since then, I have acquired more Tanner items. At this point, this is my main collecting area - if you read my blog and have a Tanner piece, drop me a line, I would love to buy it for my collection. Check out my next post for more on Tanner.

This is the billhead that started it all.

Tanner's checks typically have this border on them - B. Tanner's Stereograph Phila, with this swirl design.

1834 bank check Urbana Banking Company

1836 bank check Lebanon Bank with trimmed Tanner border - signed by resident engineer.

1837 promise to pay Philadelphia.

1837 promise to pay same design as above for Thayer, Bryan & McKee Philadelphia.

1840 Bill of Exchange Isaac Goodall & Son Philadelphia.

Probably 1830s bank check sheet for the Bank of Baltimore.

1840s Bill of Exchange printed by CH Butts who bought Tanner's Stereographic business Wankegan IL.

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Billhead Comparison - Booth

I thought it would be interesting to show two billheads for A. Booth Packing Company packers of oysters, fish and canned goods. I have handled a lot of Booth billheads for Chicago. Booth billheads are always pre-printed with the goods it sells. All of the Chicago billheads focus on the company's oysters brands.
This Chicago billhead has mainly pre-printed oyster products: oval, A. Booth, extra select, celery and fish. Nice decorative billhead with medals and factory scenes. The Chicago billheads also never indicated who printed it.

Along comes another Booth billhead, this one for the Duluth fisheries.
What I liked about this billhead was that it was pre-printed with the firm's fish offerings: whitefish, small trout, large trout, pike, pickerel and herring. This billhead also indicated in the upper left corner who printed it - Shober & Carqueville Litho Co. of Chicago.

For the history buffs, a little bit about Alfred Booth.

Alfred Booth was born in Glastonbury England, he…

Benjamin Tanner printer and engraver

Benjamin Tanner was born in New York City on March 27, 1775. At an early age he manifested a talent for drawing and designing, and after receiving his education he began to learn the art of engraving. Tanner's master is unknown, but he engraved in New York in 1792 and was possibly one of the pupils of Peter R. Maverick. In 1805, he moved to Philadelphia. In 1811, with his brother Henry S. Tanner he commenced business as a general engraver and map publisher. From 1816-1824 he was a member of the bank-note engraving firm of Tanner, Vallance, Kearny & Co.. In 183 established a blank check note and draft publishing office - known as his stereography business, which he abandoned in 1845 to Charles H. Butts.

His engravings include portraits of Washington, after Savage; Benjamin Franklin, after Charles N. Cochin (1822); "Apotheosis of Washington," after J. J. Barralet (1802) ; "Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 10 September, 1813," and " The Launch of the Ste…

Veterinary Billheads

I spend a lot of time at the vet. My German Shepherd/Border Collie mix, Gus, was diagnosed with diabetes last March. It has been a learning curve. Dogs are type I diabetics, thus they need insulin shots. Cats can be both, type I and II.

Anyway, sorry to digress - back to billheads. The billheads I have for veterinarians have a few commonalities - livestock graphics, i.e. horses or cows. So, cats, dogs, birds and other animals did not factor in to the early veterinary practice. Vets services were mainly advertised for farmers and businesses. Second, the majority advertise themselves as "veterinary surgeons."

Now a little history, prior to scientifically trained veterinarians, the American farmer in the later 19th century faced problems with illness among their livestock. When scourges hit, it was not uncommon to have an entire communities livestock wiped out. Thus, the American farmer resorted to relying on superstitions and what were called the "hoss" docto…

THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

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