Monday, November 2, 2020

Victorian advertising card: "On The Lookout"

This old advertising trade card features a man who looks a little bit like an undercover Santa Claus using his spyglass (handheld telescope) for some unknown purpose. We can only hope that he's not looking directly into the sunrise/sunset. That would be unsafe

The card, which measures 3⅛ inches by 5¼ inches, was produced by August Gast & Co. The text states:

Headquarters for SEWING MACHINE SUPPLIES,
NEEDLES, Oil, Attachments, Etc.,
New Office:
The SINGER M'F'G CO.
32 GENESEE ST.

I'm fairly stumped about where this Genesee Street is located. There are no great or obvious results from initial internet searches. If I had to guess, I'd say it's somewhere in New York state. Utica? Rochester? Syracuse? Buffalo? Genesee, which, according to Wikipedia, is derived from the Seneca (Onödowáʼga) word for "pleasant valley," is a very common name throughout New York.

But wait, there's more! 

It's been a while since I did a good curation of the many posts about Victorian advertising cards that have appeared on Papergreat over the past decade. But here is a sampling of some of the more "recent" ones, if you want to dive in for an Election Eve distraction:

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