A bushel and a Peck (& Snyder)
Before there were postcards there were postal cards. The postal card is from 1875 and on its reverse advertised the wares of the Peck & Snyder sporting goods company. The woodcut image show the fun that lays behind the storefront.
The 1876 trade card below it marks the first time to my knowledge that a baseball scene at a true baseball park (Boston's South End Grounds) was used to promote a product, and is also the earliest panorama of that park. Advertising Washburn & Moen barb wire, the woodcut on the front is captioned, "Barb Fence Armor. - The Boston Base Ball Grounds, enclosed with 'Barb Armed' Fence."
The engraver is John A. Lowell. He was involved in Boston baseball from the late 1850's forward and was so influential that the Boston Lowells was named after him. The message on the reverse is from the president of the Boston Base Ball Association. As the National League was founded in 1876, this image shows South End Grounds, the home of the Boston Red Caps, in its first year as a professional stadium. The detail is interesting. People peeking over the fence. Fans buying tickets. Men, women, kids, all at the ballgame. American flags adorning the grandstands. View of Boston in the distance. The maker of the barbed wire is Wasburn & Moen Manufacturing Co.
More items like these can be viewed on the website below.
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