Books and Pain Killers

It turns out that books were used with some frequency as a marketing tool on trade cards in the 1880s to promote all things unrelated, including pain killers. Books featured in an advertisement of medicine may have suggested that the product was backed up by learning and research, giving it an aura of legitimacy.

This card features Louise Paullin, an actress (who died in 1910), holding a book and promoting Burdock Blood Bitters as a treatment for demon dyspepsia.

Only part of the druggist stamp is visible at the bottom of the card though, so I'm not sure where to go to buy these Burdock Blood Bitters.

Now, on to the pain killers. Here we have the learned professor instructing young pupils in the use of pain killers.

In this case, the top of the card has been cropped, so I'm not sure what the brand is,  which means I can't go out and buy it.

The message on this one below is pretty clear though. It's fairly evident that this painkiller stuns birds and makes young boys drop their inkwells from trees. It will also make my hands soft and cure a felon quicker than anything else known. Dalley's Magic Pain Extractor: this one's for me! And it only costs 25 cents.

And finally, there's this smart child with her books and spectacles, who doesn't appear to be selling anything. It may have been a sample waiting for the appropriate imprint.

Don't forget to head on over to Sepia Saturday for some more book learning this week. Click on the photo to read all about it.

Valentines from the 1860s

Here are some very ornate homemade valentines. One has a date of 1869 on the back and another has a date of 1864. I assume the others are from around the same time.

The flap on the next one opens up to show a message that reads Devoted to Thee.

This one also has a little message inside.

And this one has a tiny little rhyme on the front. I'm trying to imagine what the shops that carried all of these decorative paper supplies must have looked like.

 

And finally, here's the one that says Valentine's Day 1864 on the back. The valentine may not look like much, but it's interesting to imagine that during the time this valentine was created, the Civil War was raging and Abraham Lincoln would soon be re-elected as President.

A couple of these valentines also seem to have a paper size stamped on the back. It does not correspond to the measurement in inches though. Is anyone familiar with these stamps?

Metropolitan and Not-so-Metropolitan Operas

The Metropolitan Opera was not the first opera house in New York. There was a smaller, more exclusive one, the Academy of Music, but it catered exclusively to the old-money families and excluded the new rich, such as the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts, and the Morgans. There were two-short-lived opera houses before the Academy of Music too, the Italian Opera House and the Astor House. When the Metropolitan Opera House opened at 1411 Broadway in 1883, it quickly became the opera house, and the new rich were able to see and be seen.  Here is the Met in a pre-1907 view:

It nearly burned down in 1892, but was rebuilt and reopened in 1893. The Met remained at its original location until the opera company moved to Lincoln Center in 1966. The building was demolished in 1967. I have never been to the Met, but I have been to a few of the live in HD performances at a local movie theater.  I'm sure it doesn't compare to being there in person, but I recommend it anyway.

So, while New York City was building itself an opera house in 1883, what was happening up in the  Amazon rainforest? It turns out that they were finalizing plans to build an opera house there too. While they started construction at about the same time, the process in Manaus, Brazil was a lot slower. Building materials, including marble for the stairs, columns and statues, were imported from Europe. The first performance, Ponchielli's La Giaconde, took place in 1897. No expense was spared though, resulting in a lavish building with electric lights, all funded by riches from the rubber industry. My friend Karin visited the place and sent me this picture of the Teatro Amazones.

Karin also mentions that: The pavement in the plaza in front of the Teatro is by Roberto Burle Marx, a famous landscape architect.  It represents the ‘meeting of the waters’ where the black Rio Negro and the latte-colored Rio Solimoes meet, just outside of Manaus.

Here is a gallery of photos from the Teatro Amazones.

And here's the back of the first card.