Piggly Wiggly, Part One.

The first page of a two page letter from a son working for Piggly Wiggly in Denver, to his father in Glasgow. Recognizable image from predominantly a Southern market, although I believe there was a Piggly Wiggly in Northeast Montana at one point.

Bronco Buckingham

Bronco Buckingham

Without the invention of the refrigerated railroad car, we wouldn't have - wait for it - Bacon! A fellow by the name of Gustavus Swift promoted the refrigerated rail car to sell his meat and get it shipped safely. The Buckingham brand I copied from a California fruit label - pears, specifically. And yes, there were refrigerated rail cars in 1894.

Rocky III

This is the second of two pieces of Glacier Park Hotel Company letterhead on which I've used this composition. There are a couple of Rocky posts that I've included, and more than one way to find them out here. Check labels in the right hand column.

Cowboy Watering Geraniums

Untitled advertising image by Philip R. Goodwin

for UMC-Remington

From wikipedia, Keen Kutter is a trade name first used by Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1866. The name was adopted as a trademark by Simmons Hardware Company in 1870 and was used on their highest quality tools and cutlery.

I have five or six pieces of Simmons Keen Kutter billhead such as this one, and I like using the itemized list as a foil for the art I put on it. I am a big fan of the advertising artists of the late 1800s and into the turn of the Century. 

This is just one example of the use of a certain brand (UMC/Remington), only for the image to be sold to another  brand (Peters) and the product was replaced by Goodwin.

Treasure Box

When Guns Were the Locks on the Treasure Box

Way Bill No. 195 for August 14, 1897, the Virginia City & Red Bluff Stage Company. I've added my version of C. M. Russell's "When Guns Were the Locks on the Treasure Box". I've added a short barreled 12 gauge shotgun and a Sharps rifle. I don't know that many kids these days would know where the term "riding shotgun" came from, except riding beside the driver in the passenger seat.
The original is a water color painted on tan paper. Just another example of Charlie's finest.

F. J. Nye Saddle

This piece of billhead was brought to me during Western Art Week this past March. The gentleman wanted me to put a saddle on it, and included another billhead with a vignette of a tooled saddle. I went one better, bought a book from the Montana Historical Society Bookstore entitled: "Saddleries of Montana". In the book on pages 183 and 184 are depicted several black and white engraved images put up as ads for Mr. Nye, and another Helena saddler by the name of Ben Roberts. A little bit of a backstory here: Ben Roberts housekeeper was a young lady by the name of  Nancy Cooper. Nancy would marry my favorite artist, C. M. Russell. A tooled saddle. I'd do another, and will perhaps find some other saddlery paper from the early saddlers.