Skip to content

OPEN TODAY: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.

Tickets

Visual Materials

Jay T. Last Collection of Horticulture: Page Seed Company Business Correspondence


You might also be interested in

  • Image not available

    Page Seed Company, A-H by correspondent (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

    Visual Materials

    The Page Seed Company business correspondence, a subset within the Jay T. Last collection of American horticulture, contains approximately 225 business records spanning the late 1890s through the 1950s. The majority of the collection features correspondence to and from the Page Seed Company of Greene, New York, that documents the company's sourcing and selling of seeds for fruit, vegetables, flowers, and herbs, along with the supplies necessary to package and sell them. The letters, receipts, and invoices were received primarily from growers and merchants, and concern the purchase of seeds, packaging, and other supplies including issues related to orders, shipments, and payment matters. The materials include both handwritten and typed correspondence primarily on company stationery from a variety of businesses across the United States. Some letterheads have engraved or lithographed images of plants, seed bags, or commercial buildings. The collection also includes Page seed packets numbering approximately one dozen. These envelopes feature images and descriptions of the mature plants, as well as instructions for sowing and harvesting.

    priJLC_HORT_Page

  • Image not available

    Jay T. Last Collection of Horticulture Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Horticulture Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 1,425 printed items from 1840 to 1933, with the majority of material dating from 1865 to 1920. The collection consists of advertising prints and ephemera promoting businesses whose products and services relate to growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables. This includes the tools, equipment, and supplies used for planting and cultivating gardens, orchards, and lawns for commercial and noncommercial purposes by nurseries, florists, fruit growers, and home gardeners. Seed companies are most prominently represented. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and selected small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has more than 50 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographs and engravings, including seed advertisements, decorative floral prints, and promotional materials related to fruit, vegetable, and floral products. Small-size items in the collection number almost 1,400 items and are comprised mainly of trade cards, stationery, handbills, and seed packets from various businesses. Approximately 285 ephemeral items featuring images of anthropomorphic fruit, vegetables, flowers, and other plants are also contained here, even though the products they promote do not always relate to horticulture. The collection's prints and ephemera are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about American fruit, vegetable, seed, and flower-related industries, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by these businesses in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in this collection also provide a perspective on American aesthetic sensibilities during this period, as many of these prints were offered as decorative items as well as advertisements. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

    priJLC_HORT

  • Image not available

    Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation: N.N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence

    Visual Materials

    The N. N. Hill Brass Company Business Correspondence, a subset within the Jay T. Last Collection of Transportation, contains approximately 770 pieces of incoming correspondence, and some related documents, written to the N.N. Hill Brass Company of East Hampton, Connecticut, from the early 1890s through the 1910s that focus on the company's manufacture, advertisement, and sale of bicycle bells, and their involvement with the bicycle industry and related trade associations and bicycle clubs. The letters were received primarily from bicycle manufacturers and sellers and concern the purchase of bicycle bells including issues related to orders; shipments; invoice and payment matters; and requests for price quotes, catalogs and price lists. The collection also includes correspondence related to advertising, requests for donations of prizes by bicycle clubs, correspondence from trade associations, and bicycle shows related to exhibits and exhibit programs. The materials include both handwritten and typed correspondence primarily on company stationery from a variety of companies across the United States and in other countries. Some of the letterhead has engraved or lithographed images of bicycles or commercial or industrial scenes.

    priJLC_TRAN_Hill

  • Image not available

    Jay T. Last Collection of Fashion: Honig & Schutter Business Correspondence

    Visual Materials

    The Honig & Schutter business correspondence, a subset within the Jay T. Last Collection of Fashion Prints and Ephemera, contains approximately 65 items that date from 1884 to 1890. The collection features billheads and related items sent to Honig & Schutter of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, that document merchandise for men and children purchased for resale by the company, including clothing; headwear; footwear; and accessories such as men's collars, cuffs, neckwear, handkerchiefs, and gloves. Over 35 wholesale dealers are represented in the collection. The materials include predominantly handwritten billheads from a variety of businesses in and around the northeastern United States, particularly New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Some billheads have engraved or lithographed images of commercial buildings, although the majority contain only text.

    priJLC_FASH_Honig

  • Image not available

    Page Seed Company, I-Z by correspondent (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

    Visual Materials

    Includes Page seed packets.

    priJLC_HORT_Page

  • Image not available

    Jay T. Last Collection of Fashion: William Hunt Business Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The William Hunt Business Ephemera, a subset within the Jay T. Last Collection of Fashion Prints and Ephemera, contains promotional materials accumulated by jeweler William Hunt of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. About 125 items from approximately 1861-1916 consist mainly of advertisements received by Hunt from jobbers and manufacturers of jewelers' and watchmakers' tools, supplies, and services. Advertisements for household objects such as silverware, servingware, utensils, toothpicks, pens, and ornamental items are also included, as is a small number of advertisements for clothing and other fashion accessories. The materials predominantly consist of leaflets, handbills, price lists, and billheads with manuscript text, as well as small catalogs, envelopes, and trade cards.

    priJLC_FASH_Hunt