Weekly Update

​Hello friends!  I hope today finds you all doing well and enjoying this nice spring weather.  A little cold arriving tomorrow night will not chill my enthusiasm as I look forward to getting outdoors a lot more, doing yard work and taking in the scenery during my walks about town.


Last week I wrote about some humorous advertising cards featuring the grand old game of baseball.  This week I have some hard-to-find cards from Easton stores.  Three are featured below.

Who doesn't love flowers?  Our first card is a pretty one.  Featuring roses (at least I think they are roses) on a black background, this card would be one in a series of floral prints that you could pick up while shopping at J. C. Buckley's store on Main Street.  Dating to the early 1870's (all three cards are from that era), this memento gives us a little information on a mostly unknown store.  Period maps do not locate the exact place of business, though several Main Street buildings are simply labeled "store" on the maps.  In one of those stores, at least for a while, J. C. Buckley was a purveyor of "Ladies & Children's Fine Shoes."  I could not find out anything further on this business, so other than this card, it remains a mystery.  The back of the card is blank.

Our second card advertises "Boschee's German Syrup & Green's August Flower" for your health.  A very healthy looking young lady graces the front of the card.  If you are not feeling all that terrific, you could pick up your treatment for what ails you at the drugstore of George G. Withington & Co., Center Street.  Withington's store may have disappeared some years ago, but this advertising card leaves a hint at some of the remedies that were available to Victorian Era shoppers.  Read the back of the card in the second photo below to see the variety of conditions that were reasons to use these concoctions.  The August Flower syrup contained 7% alcohol, capsicum, peppermint oil, and other things to soothe your stomach - and perhaps your spirits too! The German Syrup contained a mixture of morphine and alcohol to soothe a cough from a bad cold.  I would think it would also give you a good night's sleep after a dose or two or three?

Our last card today is something a little different.  The gentlemanly dressed porcine featured here is longing for his friends.  A close look at the factory in the background will give you an immediate reason for his melancholy.  Issued by N. K. Fairbanks & Company, the card and the little ditty at the top explains the reason for our hero's dismal outlook.  Fairbank & Co. produced lard.  You would have found this card at the store of George Copeland, who conducted his business at the northwest corner of Central and Washington Streets, South Easton.  The site is now the home of Hennessey's Package Store.  Copeland, like many neighborhood stores in town, sold all kinds of useful items including food staples and dry goods, providing an important source for the people in the neighborhood and easy access to all kinds of things, including, of course, Fairbanks Lard.  By the way, do you know why your grandmother's pie crusts were always so flaky?  She used lard in the crust instead of butter or vegetable shortening.

Until next week, stay well, and enjoy some sunshine!
Frank