Standard Mail Order (2 results)

Softcover. Condition: Near Fine. Kept in the original mailing envelope, Clean paper covers. Catalog tight, clean & intact. Profusely illustrated Women & men fashions. Catalog ; B&W Drawing Ills.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 62 pages.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 237 x 151 mm. Transcription: "WINDOW MIRRORS,MANUFACTURED BYGEORGE FRIES & CO., 909 FILBERT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. → FINE ← French Plate MIRRORS $5.00 FRENCH Plate Mirrors $4.00 GERMAN Plate Mirrors $3.00 This article is especially adapted for the Convenience of the Sick Room. Nothing better could please the Invalid. As all Ladies must spend much of their time in-doors, the Window Mirror affords them endless pleasure, as it shows a magnificent view of everything passing up or down the street. It consists of two Mirrors (Looking Glasses) 7x8½ inches, in a nicely Japanned Tin Case, and placed outside the window, and made fast to the window-sill, at an angle of 45°—showing the two sides of the street in both directions, for Six or Eight blocks—with a third glass on top, placed at an angle, that those within can see anyone on the front door step, without raising the window, or BEING SEEN; and in case of peddlers, etc., saves much useless running to answer the bell. It can be put out or taken in, as easily as raising the window. When sitting in the room you can see the entire street in both directions. It can be placed at any window, second, third or fourth floor. The French Plate Mirror, can be left out in all kinds of weather, without fear of damage from wind or storm, and will out last many of the German Plates. One of our firm has one that has been in constant use for Eight years, and is good yet. The $5.00 Mirror is made of Heavy Tin, Japanned, and Striped with Gold Bands, and a Heavy Iron Rod, and Sill Brace; Galvanized, to prevent rust. The $4.00 Mirror has the Same Glass, but one brand lighter tin, and black Iron Rod and Sill Brace. The $3.00 Mirror has German Plate Glass and Common Tin, with Bronze Stripes and Black Iron Rod and Sill Brace. Also, Repairing done at lowest prices, consistent with good work. Either of the Mirrors securely packed and sent to any part of the United States upon receipt of Price. GEORGE FRIES & CO. JOBBERS DISCOUNT ON MIRRORS, 25 PER CENT." Verso: Handwritten penciled list: "Indian Red 5 lb 12 1/2 Kg atlante W. Lead 1/2 Gall Turp 1 pt. Raw Oil Dryer [Signature:] J B Bland" "Indian Red", "W. Lead" [White Lead], "Turp" [Turpentine], "Raw Oil" [Linseed oil], and "Dryer" are traditional ingredients used for mixing paints and primers in the 19th century. This broadside dates to circa 1880-1890. George Fries & Co. was actively producing plain and japanned tinware at 909 Filbert Street in Philadelphia during the 1880s. These external structural window devices are famously known as "busybodies" or "gossip mirrors". While popular folklore mistakenly attributes them to Benjamin Franklin, historical advertisements show they were actually introduced and widely marketed under the name "window mirrors" or "busybodies" starting in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Ephemera of this nature has low survival rate. While standard billing receipts from George Fries & Co. turn up occasionally in paper trade collections, an intact, fully illustrated advertising broadside for their specific window mirror line is quite scarce. The signature J. B. Bland (written upside down) serves as an excellent provenance link to the 19th-century paint ingredients listed above it. Based on trade directories and historical records from the late 19th century, this name strongly points to a professional tradesman or merchant who used the back of the broadside as a scratchpad: Mid-Atlantic trade records from the late 1880s list a J. B. Bland (J. Bolling Bland) operating commercial merchant partnerships along the Philadelphia-Baltimore trade corridors. Because the listed items are specialized raw materials used in late 19th-century paint manufacturing (White Lead used as a base pigment, Indian Red as a coloring agent, Turpentine as a solvent, Linseed Oil as a binder, and Dryers to speed up curing). Having the signature in pencil on a piece of period ephemera increases its character. . . [continued description:] paint supplies. Flipping the paper upside down, Bland signed it to authorize the note or mark ownership of the sheet in the shop. (illustrator).…