THE EPHEMERA OF BUSINESS

George Washington Bank interest check with left side Washington vignette and right side revenue stamp. I collect paper that has Washington's likeness on it pre-1900. This was an exciting buy for me! 1842 billhead that has a stenciled header. I have wanted one of these checks for awhile. I love the Neptune graphic on the left and has a nice printed revenue stamp at center, Add caption

More pages from the scrapbook. Some business advertisements include: American Arms Co. / Rising Sun Stove Polish / Dr. Simmons Liver Regulator / Anderson's Cough Cure / University Medicines / Schepp's Cocoanut / Elgin watches / J & P Coats thread / Boston baked beans / Augusta Healy's vegetable pills / Charter Oak City Shirt Co. / Jacob Hoffman brewery / Skilton Foote Co.'s Bunker Hill pickles / Solar Tip Shoes / Beef Canning Co. / Eldridge's safety halter / Pond's Extract / J. Hetherington / Kibbe Big Sandy cigar El

I bought a scrapbook last week and below are the first few pages of it. While its not full of trade cards, it is full of labels and cut off newspaper advertisement which I love. When I first looked at the book, I realized it was a salesmen sample for Alexander H. Stephens book the War Between the States . Stephens was a an American politician from Georgia and was Vice President of the Confederate States during the Civil War. This book was turned into a scrapbook by Robert C. Knox of Manchester Connecticut in 1882. Knox pasted in the book labels, newspaper advertisements and trade cards. Enjoy.

Of all industries, that of manufacturing the pelts of animals into articles for the use of mankind is the most ancient, and hardly a country exists in which, to some extent, the skins of different beasts are not so used at the present time. The manufacturing of skins into articles of apparel and luxury is an industry apart from all others, and one requiring great knowledge and experience, as the stability as well as the appearance of most furs depends much upon the mode of curing, drying, and making up. The Canadian provinces owe their first start on the road to prosperity to the fur trade. The French pioneers discovered that as the Native Indians were ignorant of the value of the furs which they accumulated, an enormous profit was possible to the successful trader in those articles. In the infancy of the industry there was absolutely no limit to the percentage of profit, as the Native Indians would exchange the most valuable of pelts for European trinkets that were worth nothing...