Friday, September 7, 2012

Drumhead Cabbage & Friends

Most of us don't have a local seedsman these days where we can buy our seeds. We're more likely to buy them at nurseries or hardware stores. These cards were all produced by Richmond & Co/Clay & Richmond of Buffalo, New York in the 1880s/90s.





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15 comments:

  1. WibboSeptember 7, 2012 at 6:33 AM

    Wonderful images!

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  2. slt1954@gmail.comSeptember 7, 2012 at 7:28 AM

    Where's Alice? They all seem like characters from a Lewis Carroll story! Wonderful cards although Beet-man (is that a beet?) is a little frightening!

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  3. Deb GouldSeptember 7, 2012 at 7:39 AM

    I don't think he's a beet. I think he's a mangel-wurzel; regardless, he's the stuff from which bad dreams are made!

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  4. JonathanSeptember 7, 2012 at 8:03 AM

    Charming illustrations!

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  5. Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.comSeptember 7, 2012 at 8:06 AM

    Charming! Almost makes me want to plant vegetables....

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  6. Christine H.September 7, 2012 at 10:41 AM

    I think he is a turnip.

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  7. dmarksSeptember 7, 2012 at 1:52 PM

    Reminds me a lot of this fellow:

    Carter Green

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    Replies
    1. Christine H.September 8, 2012 at 1:54 PM

      Yes, you're absolutely right! I had forgotten about him.

      Delete
  8. Archie TechtSeptember 7, 2012 at 9:06 PM

    Excellent pre-computer graphics fun. Cabbage man has a bit of a 'Where the Wild Things Are' feel to me- hope the kraut boys don't eat too much and get sick. Watermelon man made me think of the 'Body Worlds' exhibit, although I don't think any of the plasticized beings there had any seeds. And the beet/mangel/turnip man is indeed bit creepy, sort like the Czech movie 'Little Otik' that it reminded me of, where a 'baby' comes from a tree root. Flower lady has a huge head and her body is way too long, but creative none the less and not as cartoon-ish as the other cards.

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  9. dosankodebbieSeptember 8, 2012 at 4:06 AM

    Now THESE are my kind of postcards. I mean, YOU can make even the most mundane street scene seem fascinating by all the background you provide, but vegetable art is hard to beat. I often think this about etegami postcards too. :)

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  10. AnonymousSeptember 8, 2012 at 5:24 AM

    As a kid planting these seeds would give me nightmares. Every morning I would look if a melon-man sticks his head out of the ground.

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  11. PostcardySeptember 8, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    The cabbage is my favorite, but he is a little scary. Those kids will be sorry if they eat too much sauerkraut!

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  12. PostcardySeptember 9, 2012 at 7:19 AM

    I saw some more seed cards here:
    http://www.cambridgephoto.com/blog/

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  13. Christine H.September 9, 2012 at 10:20 AM

    Postcardy,
    Thanks, those are great cards. Makes me want to start collecting vegetable people.

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  14. TracySeptember 15, 2012 at 5:55 AM

    Oh Christine: you beat me to the seed people! I just got a bunch that were cut out and framed by some crafty Victorian, and I was going to post them soon. I have the last one you listed (turnip? radish?) a couple of potato men, a red onion guy, a lettuce lady, and a little girl in a celery bunch. I found the framed collage in an 1800s farmhouse way out in the countryside; it had been hanging on the parlor wall for over 100 years! I'll have to get it posted soon.

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