I have come to appreciate how important having a good garden was to Philadelphians. There are some beautiful gardens here locally which were built around the mansions of the past and many which became wonderful parks for all to enjoy in these times. The City also has stunning big pots all around which I love to walk by each day. Someone had saved this advertizement from many years ago. Great prices don't you think?
Called the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 World's Fair was open for seven months and by the time it closed on December 1st had welcomed 20 million visitors from around the world. Exhibits from 50 foreign countries and 43 of the then 45 states were included in the Fair which included such amusements as re-enactments of the Boer Ward, babies in incubators, The Dancing Girls of Madrid, The Educated Horse and an elephant water slide. This letterhead (above) was included in someones memories. I wonder if they actually stayed at this hotel and what it must have been like. The rates certainly seem reasonable now, but we must remember the times. The Hotel Astor in New York City had room rates at $3.50 per day in 1904. However, The Inside Inn did include entrance to the Fair!
Other letterheads have caught my eye also.
This first one just baffles me....
"Furniture---Funeral Director"....seriously???
I have seen the Society of the Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the American Revolution (both of which I am looking to join), but until this week had not seen this one. It makes perfect sense though, don't you think?
I do have to say that I never would have imagined this one, however. There would have to be some pretty compelling documentation to be in this order: "Authenticated Descent from One of the Seven Leaders of the Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, AD 1096". I am also curious about the person whose name is crossed out with red "X's".
Next, I was so excited to happen upon these beautiful hand painted coat of arms below. I suspect the same artist did them all as they were together in one family folder and they are originals. The paint used had metallic properties so each of them had a shine that could not be captured by my camera or by the scanner. These are treasurers for sure.
I appreciate beautiful handwritting so much more now than I ever have. Trying to decifer the handwriting of some of the notes we scan, including research notes, correspondence and family histories is very challenging. I liked this note below because I don't see the consistency of the thickness in a down stroke so I am a bit curious what kind of pen the author was using. This letter is dated 1881.
One of my favorite finds, which I see often, is the note below. I am intrigued by those who wrote a note/letter and then decided they didn't want to use another precious piece of paper so they completed their thoughts by turning the note 90 degrees and writing across the first part of the letter! Ingenious! This example isn't so interesting because they used the space at the beginning of the note where there is still some open space, but there are others where an entire page is covered with writing in both directions. So fun to see!!
Phillipe suchard was a Swiss chocolatier and industrialist. He pioneered the process of grinding cocoa paste between heated granite rollers which move forward and backward. He found success only after a bulk order of his chocolates came from Frederick William IV, King of Prussia who was also the Prince of Neuchatel. Hence the identifying names. He also pioneered the purple wrapping of the chocolate to make his chocolate easy to identify. His company has since passed to other companies and has ended up with Toblerone.
Doesn't this image just make you smile? Well it does for me.
I'm smiling now and wondering:
"Where is MY chocolate??"
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