Our political cartoon seminar with Will Fenton, Signe Wilkinson, & other guests will include hands-on access to dozens of Library Company political cartoons—like this one! Sign up today:

librarycompany.org/seminars/

This cheeky monkey is messing with our sense of time! 

We are continuing with the #AnimatedArchive challenge for #ArchivesMonth. This trade card advertising the jeweler, Joseph S. Downie, Jr. was just asking to be brought to life. 

Joe Freeman Collection of Trade Cards. United States, [ca. 1874 - ca. 1910]

It is the last week of the William Birch exhibition, and we are feeling nostalgic!

Anniversaries by their nature evoke interest in the past. Founder’s Week, the celebration of the 225th anniversary of William Penn’s founding of Philadelphia, served as a touchstone for packaging and selling views of “old Philadelphia” including those created by William Birch. From postcard sets to commemorative booklets, Birch’s city views were marketed with a nostalgic eye to the past.

Reproductions of Birch’s Celebrated Historical Views of Philadelphia…. Compliments of Underwood & Co. Philadelphia: R. M. Palmer, 1908. Library Company of Philadelphia. Gift of Louise Beardwood.

Numerous Philadelphia firms advertised their businesses by distributing a commemorative booklet containing all of Birch’s city views. The booklet’s introduction reads in part: “The costumes of the period, the general views of the buildings, street scenes, historical landmarks, then the show features of the city, etc., compared with the present, make the phenomenal strides in advancement now achieved seem almost incredible.” Additional text below some of the images, updated the viewer to the more recent history of a particular site.

Can you ID these “Mystery Mounds?” Feel a “Caption This” moment coming on?

Yes, please! Comment or snap a picture and post with  #LCPlarderuninvaded  #LCPfoodporn.

This photograph of a [sumptuous?] looking meal will be on display with many other mid-century mysteries in the mini exhibit : Larder Uninvaded : Food Porn of the 1950s

We are excited to be leading an #ArchivesPHL social media challenge! Bring your collections to life by publishing GIFs every Wednesday of October using the hashtag #animatedarchive.

This circa 1880 trade card features some playful bubbles that needed a little help to find their bounce.

Yates & Co. Clothing. circa 1880. Newbold Trade Card Collection. 

The jubilee memorial of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium Pennsylvania and adjacent states. (New York: Ernst Kaufmann, 1898). Chromolithograph. Library Company of Philadelphia. Gift of Dr. Don Yoder and William Woys Weaver-The Roughwood German-American Collection.

Although none of the artists whose work is reproduced on this broadside received any credit, it is William Birch’s depiction of the Lutheran Church from The City of Philadelphia that is the central vignette commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first Lutheran church body in North America.

The William Birch : His Life, His Views of Philadelphia, and His Legacy online exhibition is now live! Please visit  https://librarycompany.org/birch/

We love this joyful candid image captured by Marriott C. Morris in October, 1907, during a canoeing trip in New Jersey with friends and family. #MorrisMonday

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. [Two women preparing food], canoeing, Egg Harbor River, NJ [graphic]. October 12-14, 1907. 1 photograph: film negative; 3 x 4 in.     

It’s time for a very Philly edition of #FoodieFriday! This circa 1880 trade card shows the proper level of excitement for soft pretzels.

Canfield’s condensed milk. Freedman Collection of Trade Cards. P.2015.55.73

We are excited to be leading an #ArchivesPHL social media challenge! Bring your collections to life by publishing GIFs every Wednesday of October using the hashtag #animatedarchive. 

We couldn’t resist the cuteness of this pup rocking a baby in a bassinet on a trade card advertising Geo. B. Bains Leather Goods.  

Geo. B.. Bains & Sons, Leather Goods, 1028 Chestnut Street. Berman Collection of Philadelphia Trade Cards. 

Marriott C. Morris is not unlike your shutter happy friends who frequently capture you mid bite or with a mouth full of food, but we love him for it. 

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. [Portrait of a seated man], canoeing, Egg Harbor River, NJ.  October 12-14, 1907. 1 photograph: film negative; 3 x 4 in.