Pluck Art Printery

What looks like a calling card for D. B. Landis on the front (above) turns out to be an advertising trade card on the back (see below). David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) operated Pluck Art Printery, a letterpress print shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but he started out as a printer in his hometown of Landisville, which is located about eight miles from Lancaster. For the other side of this card, see The Village Vigil, Landisville, Pa., 1883 (below).

An advertising trade card for the Village Vigil newspaper (above), which has the appearance of a calling card on the front (below). Office of The Village Vigil. Landisville, Pa., 1883. The Vigil will be a small and entertaining village paper. Its contents shall be spicy, and mostly original, and it needs your support. It will be a journal for the young, and the old folks with youthful hearts. It is not a large sum to you-- 50 cents per year --to us it will do a great deal, so consider this an invitation to subscribe. We would be pleased to receive any orders for cheap and satisfactory job printing you may want. Yours very respectfully, D. B. Landis, Editor and publisher of the Vigil. D. B. Landis David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) was only 21 years old when he decided to publish the Village Vigil in Landisville, Pennsylvania, in 1883. Landis later provided the following information about himself and the Village Vigil in his book about his family's history, The Landis Family of Lancaster County: A Comprehensive History of the Landis Folk (Lancaster, Pa.: By the author, 1888), pp. 18-19: "David Bachman Landis is the only son of Israel C., and was born in Landisville, February 12 1862…. On the 7th of October, 1878, David was apprenticed to the Inquirer Printing and Publishing Company, Lancaster, to learn Guttenberg's art. After serving four years at the trade, he opened a professional job printing office in Landisville, in April, 1883. On May 1 of the same year, he issued the initial number of the Village Vigil as a tri-monthly; in a year it was printed weekly; and in 1885 the paper was enlarged to eight pages, being known thereafter as the Landisville Vigil .…. On March 13, 1886 the Vigil was discontinued, the owner connecting himself with the Lancaster Inquirer , in which establishment he has had charge of the printing since then." For the other side of this card, see D. B. Landis (below).

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St." Detail from Pluck Art Printery Receipt, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (see thumbnail image below). Pluck Art Printery, also known at different times throughout its existence as Pluck Print, Pluck Electric Print, and Landis Art Press, was a letterpress print shop run by David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) in Lancaster, Pa. On this 1890s receipt, Landis highlighted his slogan, "I Print to Please," with an illustration of a composing stick and mallet, two essential tools for setting type by hand.

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa, ________ 189__. Received of ________. ________Dollars. $____. ________." For a close-up of the left-hand portion of this receipt, see I Print to Please, D. B. Landis, Pluck Art Printery, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (thumbnail image below).

An advertising calendar and blotter for Pluck Art Printery--also known at different times throughout its history as Pluck Print, Pluck Electric Print, and Landis Art Press--which was a letterpress print shop operated by David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) in Lancaster, Pa. Blotters by the Basket or Barrel Briskly printed whenever you order 'em! Yearly Calendar--1897. Pluck Art Printery is ever on the alert throughout the entire year for new ideas and new customers. Try us and remain a patron. D. B. Landis. Most up-to-date job office in Lancaster. The number--38 East Chestnut Street.

"Fastnacht Sociable, by the Altar Society, Grace Ev. Luth. Church, Lect. Room, N. Queen and James, for new church improvem't fund. Admission, refreshment, and entertainment, 10 cts. Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1904. Admit one. P.A.P." -------- Although this 1904 ticket for a "Fastnacht Sociable" in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, doesn't specify what refreshments were served during this church fundraiser, its shape and the event's name suggest that "fastnachts"--a type of fried doughnut--were on the menu ( fastnachts , however, aren't necessarily round in shape and may not have a hole in the middle). As Wikipedia explains, " Fastnacht Day , is an annual Pennsylvania Dutch celebration that falls on Shrove Tuesday , the day before Ash Wednesday....Traditionally, fastnachts are made to use up the lard, sugar, butter, eggs and other rich foods in a house before the austere diet of Lent begins." Fastnacht Day--which fell on Tuesday, March 4, in 2014--continues to be observed in central Pennsylvania, and a number of Catholic and Protestant churches in the area each make as many as 100,000 fasnachts to sell. Some fastnacht makers use special recipes, such as one which produces an uncoated yeast-raised potato doughnut that's square in shape with no hole, while others--including many grocery and convenience stores--simply repackage their regular sugared or glazed doughnuts and label them as fastnachts. See Sue Gleiter's article, " What Is a Fastnacht? Apparently More Than Just a Fried Doughnut ," PennLive.com, March 3, 2014, for additional information on making, selling, and eating fasnachts. -------- For a ticket to another church-sponsored "fastnacht social," see Annual Fastnacht Social, St. Andrew's Reformed Sunday School, Reading, Pa., Feb. 21, 1950 .

"Good for one chair at Y.M.C.A. Field Sports, West End Park, Monday, July 4, 1892. 2:30 p.m. Price, 10 cts. Pluck Art Print."

"Pie Social, to be held in the Lecture Room of St. Paul's Reformed Church, by Class No. 17, on Thursday even'g, Dec. 6, 1900, for benefit of Building Fund. Price, 10 cents." Happy Pi Day !

"Fred. Hollinger, practical horse shoer, 43 West Mifflin St., Lancaster, Pa. Special attention given to track, gent's driving, and road horses; also to lame and interfering horses. All work guaranteed."

"S. N. Mumma & Co., packers of and dealers in leaf tobacco, Landisville, Pa. Represented by ________."

"A grand entertainment will be held on Saturday even., April 3, '97, in Cooper's Hall, for the benefit of the Salunga Cornet Band. The comedy-drama 'Tatters' is one of the finest amateur plays that has been written, abounding in the most pathetic and humorous scenes. Good music will add largely to the night's entertainment. Don't fail to come; rain or shine. Admission, 15 cents. Reserved seat, 20 cents. Committee. Pluck Print, 38 East Chestnut Street, Lancaster, Pa."

"Chas. S. Frantz, graduate ophthalmic optician, watchmaker, and jeweler, Lancaster, Pa." Detail showing the return address in the upper left-hand corner of an envelope printed by D. B. Landis, Pluck Art Printery, Lancaster, Pa. For similar items, see Dr. F. C. Williams, Eye Specialist, Harrisburg, Pa. , and B. B. Lupfer, Graduate Optician, New Bloomfield, Pa.

"S. Elliott & Son, wholesale and retail dealers in pure artificial ice, manufactured by the Consumers' Ice Company of Lancaster. 242 S. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa. S. Elliott. S. G. Elliott. Bell 'Phone, 4924. United 'Phone, 1846 B."

"Join the crowd at the Swing Club Dance, Friday, October 11, 1940. Jam to Sam Loss. Hostetter's Ball Room. 9 to 12, semi-formal. Donation, $1.00 per couple." Samuel W. Loss and his orchestra jammed for the Swing Club crowd at Hostetter's Play Barn (or Ball Room) in Bird-in-Hand, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 11, 1940.

"U. W. Myers, drilling manager, artesian well driller, Myerstown, Pa." For a similar business card, see William C. Myers, Practical Artesian Well Contractor, Salunga, Pa.

"Wm. C. Myers, practical artesian well contractor. Test holes for prospectors. Estimates on application. Work done on short notice. Satisfaction guaranteed. Bell 'phone. Salunga, Lancaster Co., Pa. Traction." For a similar business card, see U. W. Myers, Artesian Well Driller, Myerstown, Pa.

"Chas. O. Ursprung, wholesale horse collar manufacturer, No. 408 North Market St., Lancaster, Pa. CU. Special trademark." Charles O. Ursprung (1867-1935) moved his horse collar manufactory to 408 North Market Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, sometime in the early 1900s (city directories from the late 1890s give his business locations as either 21 or 32 West Chestnut Street in Lancaster). For a similar business card from the same job printer ( Pluck Print ), see William C. Myers, Practical Artesian Well Contractor, Salunga, Pa.