Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: stems

"First Pick. O. L. Schwencke, lith., N.Y." A cigar box label printed by O. L. Schwencke. Notice how a box featuring this label appears within the design of the label itself. This recursive picture-within-a-picture is called the Droste effect , which is named after the Droste cacao tin that featured an illustration of a nun holding the tin.

A small Victorian-era greeting card that's about the size of a modern business card. This is a generic "stock card" that could have served as a calling card, advertising trade card, reward of merit, or--as in this case--greeting card, depending on what was printed on it. The colors of the leaves in the illustration, of course, suggest an autumn theme rather than a winter-time Christmas celebration.

"White Dress Goods. French and English piques , princess lawns , linen lawns , plain and stripe nainsooks , embroidered suits, 8-4 organdie , etc., etc., at G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co.'s." G. V. S. Quackenbush & Co. used this colorful trade card to tout all the varieties of cloth-- piqués , lawns , nainsooks , organdies --that were available at its dry goods store in Troy, New York.

"Nasturtium Dwarf. Price 5¢." An early chromolithographed seed packet from the William D. Burt seed company of Dalton, N.Y.

A Victorian-era calling card with handwritten name and date: "Alice A. Collar. Dec. 31st, 1878. A.A.C."

This delicate Victorian-era Christmas greeting card (smaller in size than a modern business card) displays an eye-catching, three-dimensional design featuring embossed flowers, die-cut stems and leaves peeking out from under a faux folded corner, and stippled shadowing around fake slits through which the flowers and pin extend.

"Here's to the Birthday We Celebrate! Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Painting only copyrighted by the Int. Art Pub. Co. 1912."

Or to put it more straightforwardly, this acquaintance card asks, "May I see you home?" The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, provides additional information: "A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s, the acquaintance card was used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female. Given also as an 'escort card' or 'invitation card,' the device commonly carried a brief message and a simple illustration.... Flirtatious and fun, the acquaintance card brought levity to what otherwise might have seemed a more formal proposal. A common means of introduction, it was never taken too seriously."