American Lithograph Company Purchased Seven Lithograph Companys in 1892
 

I was doing some research and came across an article that stated the purchase of these lithograph company's by American Lithograph in 1892.

George S. Harris & Sons- Philadelphia PA
Heppenheimers & Sons-NJ
Donaldson Brothers Company-NY
Giles Company-NY
Eddy & Calaus-?
Witsch & Schmidt-NY
Schumacher & Ettinger-NY

It appears some of them were good size printing Company's at the time,
Harris & Sons was listed as the largest in the city and Heppenheimers was
said to be one of the nations most important cigar label printers.

George S. Harris & Sons Lithographic were one of the premier printing firms in the late 19th Century.


N162 Goodwin Champions 1888 .... 50 card set
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/d...ansonkelly.jpghttp://i529.photobucket.com/albums/d...softropics.jpg



A36 Album....12 pages illustrating the N162 cards
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/d...z/A36cover.jpg




TED Z
.

Here's The Link.

http://www.artoftheprint.com/artistp...el_coqueta.htm

No wonder they printed just about everything we see, it seems. And those cigar labels were big printing affairs back in the 1800s-1900s....I have seen a ton or proofs and really nice lithography surrounding labels.

Donaldson Brothers was a major printer of trade cards.

Jay Last's book "The Color Explosion" had an exhaustive and well-illustrated history of all these U.S. lithographic firms from the late 1800s.

Awesome!

Thanks for the book, I'm ordering it right now! haha

book sounded interesting
 

but over 70.00 a bit steep for a used book...... Might be a good motivator to explore the library although here in south florida as opposed to my old homestead in NYC - figuring my chances not great.

Inter-library loan if it's available in FL might work. I'll bet there's a copy or two in the state's system given all of the gorgeous lithographed fruit crate labels that used to be produced for citrus and the like. We have a time share we sometimes take in Vero Beach (Disney) and they have a nice display of the labels in their lobby.

tx Dave!
 

I figured that to be an option but haven't been to a library since they used card catalogs which I imagine have been phased out :-) I have all of Davidson's label books and included is a great one featuring fruit crate labels. I think cigar box labels might be thought of as the granddaddy of them all due to their aesthetics, historical implications, and complexity - base ball and other cards not too shabby either. I love so much of the artistry offered in antique advertising by so many talented un-named artists and their execution of the task - but have limits and often books with pictures have to do.

The American Lithographic Co. building still stands in NYC at the corner of Park Avenue South & East 19th Street. This 13-story building was built in 1895,
and this 170-foot high structure is dwarfed by the surrounding tall buildings.

http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/d...raphicbldg.jpg


Ten years ago I entered it, hoping to find a showroom displaying original lithographic gems from it's glorious past. I was confronted by a tall guard, who
asked me who I was looking for.
I asked him if there was some sort of a museum room display reminiscent of this once famous printing firm. He had no idea of what I was talking about,
and he quickly showed me the door. What little I could make of it, this building was filled with professional offices.


P.S...If you are visiting San Francisco, you have to check-out the Schmidt Lithographic (OBAK fame) museum. They have some fantastic displays of their
original lithographic productions.


TED Z
.

I Just Picked up my copy at the post office, brand new $27.99 + $3.99 shipping.

Here are some examples of the mentioned companies work.

George S. Harris & Sons- Philadelphia PA

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...arge/Birds.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/9photo1.JPG
http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/Pirates.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/9Sea%20.jpg

Lindner Eddy & Clauss Lith.-NY

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...e/9Ginter1.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...large/9N32.jpg
http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/9Indian.jpg

Schumacher & Ettinger-NY

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...arge/Tiger.jpg

Donaldson Brothers Company-NY

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...ge/99Opera.jpg

Cheers,

John

Those are stunning John, thanks for sharing.

Beautiful posters John, now I know why I couldn't find any info on
Linder Eddy & Clauss in the article they were listed as Eddy & calaus.

In the book it lists another company that merged with ALC G.H. Buek & Company.

I've been meaning to get to our local historical society to do some looking up.

The company that did the orange border candy boxes moved here in 1910, did the candy boxes and for some reason didn't make it beyond I think early 1911.

That set shares a bunch of pictures with T206, and I've wondered if there's any connection with ALC. Either favorable, or if they copied images without permission and that's what did them in.

From the research I have undertaken regarding T209s and T210s, American Lithographic Corporation (ALC) and American Tobacco Company (ATC) were monopolies. Buck Duke of ATC was a close friend of Joseph Palmer Knapp whose family created ALC in 1892. ALC was a conglomerate that absorbed a number of lithographic printers, like George S. Harris, Heppenheimer's & Sons, etc. As a reult of their "absorption," ALC created a monopoly of lithographic printing so that all T206s cards, as well as many other litho printed images, were produced by them. It was a sweet deal during the tobacco card era for Duke & Knapp, but with the court ordered dissolution of ATC, ALC embarked on a period of economic challenges.

Cheers, Mike