Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: 1890

The World Type Writer logo from The Type-Writer's Exchange Billhead, Philadelphia, Pa., 1890 . World Type Writer, $8.00 Rapid. Durable. Practical. Simple.

An 1890 billhead for the Type-Writer's Exchange, a used office equipment store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. See also an enlargement of the World Type Writer logo that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the billhead. The Type-Writer's Exchange . Second-hand type-writers and office equipment bought, sold, or exchanged. 46 South Fourth Street 1212 Market Street, Philadelphia, Jan. 16/90. Sold to E. W. Lapp, 1 letter press & stand, $4.00. Terms cash. Received payment. Typewriter Exchange per S. A. Smith. Logo: World Type Writer, $8.00. Rapid. Durable. Practical. Simple.

"College of Physicians and Surgeons. 18th Annual Commencement, Academy of Music, Tuesday, March 18, 1890, 12 M. Admit bearer." For a similar ticket, see Commencement Exercises Ticket, June 18, 1886 .

A Victorian-era chromolithographed card with an added photo (a rectangular portion of the card was cut out of the middle, and the photo--part of a CDV--was affixed to the back). As far as I can determine, "Merry Christmas 1890" is what's stamped at the top.

"Edward A. Hollis, Hardware. Contractors', upholsterers', builders'. No. 1904 Market Street, Philadelphia, March 31, 1890. Sold to E. W. Lapp. 1 Fleetwood scroll saw 3, 12.90." Rubberstamped: "Paid, Edward A. Hollis, per EAH, 5/2/91." Hammer head: "D. Maydole, cast steel."

Lewis S. Harman, Lancaster City. For Prothonotary, 1890 He entered the army as a private soldier, carried a musket for three years in the 1st Reg't, Penn'a Reservers, and was severely wounded, May 30, 1864, at the battle of Bethesda Church, in front of Richmond, on the day his three years' term of service expired. Your assistance respectfully solicited. Subject to Republican rules. Election, May 3, 1890. Blanket roll and knapsack: "U.S. Co. B, 1st Reg;'t. P.R.V."

"Pain's Last Days of Pompeii, Island Park, Harrisburg, Pa. Commencing July 4th, and every Tuesday and Saturday following, except July 5th. Last performance, August 5th." This trade card advertised a "pyrodrama," an elaborate outdoor theatrical spectacle with fireworks, that was based on Edward Bulwer-Lytton's historical novel, The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), and depicted the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in AD 79. James Pain brought Last Days to Harrisburg, Pa., in 1890, and also produced it at Coney Island and Atlantic City in other years. For more information about Pain's pyrodrama, see the Pompeian Entertainments page of the J. Paul Getty's Museum's The Last Days of Pompeii exhibition.

A strange and inexplicable New Year greeting! An old woman is tossing a young boy, identified as "1889" across his back, into a steaming kettle of soup that she's cooking over a hot fire. The legs of her previous victim are barely visible at the edge of the kettle. Am I missing something here? Is there a literary allusion or proverb or something else that might explain this? Otherwise, it seems a rather cruel and violent way to greet the New Year. In any case, after initially believing this to be a calling card, I finally discovered that it's number 5 ("Old woman holding boy 1889 over soup tureen") in a series of 50 "New Years 1890" cigarette cards issued by Kinney Tobacco Co. See Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 for additonal information about the card series. By the way, some of the other cards in this series also show strange and unsettling scenes: No. 19 - Boy pushing huge snowball over figure of 1889. No. 20 - Duelist 1890 standing over fallen 1889. No. 36 - Boy 1890 skates round 1889 falling through ice. No. 38 - Whale swallowing 1889, 1890 steps on to floating globe. No. 49 - Sun as spider devouring insect 1889, insect 1890 flies away. A checklist for the card series and illustrations of each card are available at Kinney New Years 1890 Cards - N227 .