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February 23rd, 2008:

Plexiglass – before graffiti – South Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Plexiglass - Williamsburg

Plexiglass - Williamsburg
© Frank H. Jump

I’ve recently posted this ad and have noticed that it has gotten some traffic. Here is the sign before the “graffiti artist” got to it. Hurry advertisers!

Plexiglass - Williamsburg
©Frank H. Jump

Baptista Search Uncovers Vintage Gems

Auctiva.com

Library of Congress Archival Image

Above are images Robert Baptista (colorantshistory.org) found while commenting on some of my Pearline Soap postings. Pearline Soap ad: Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Baptista’s invaluable comments on this blog are worth being their own postings. Hey Robert- let me just make you a co-editor already! Below are his comments.

James Pyle made soap at 350 Washington St. in Manhattan in the 1860s. The product was sold in grocery stores as Pyle’s O.K. Soap. He later moved the factory to 414 Washington St. and sold Pearline Soap in one-pound packages at 15 cents per package. It was a coarse white powder formulated with sodium carbonate for washing clothes. A colorful vintage ad can be seen at the link:

A fascinating period photo is at the Library of Congress which depicts a little girl sitting on opened crates of Pearline washing compound, crying. She apparently mistook the small boxes for Crackerjacks! 

The Pearline Soap factory is being converted to condominiums with a cool $5 million starting price. Photos, a map, and more old Pearline ads

Photo Basement's Forty-One Hilarious Science Fair Experiments

PS119 Science Fair 2007

PS119 Science Fair 2007

Schorndorfer Ammonia
© Frank H. Jump

A couple of days ago, a colleague forwarded this hilarious blog posting at Photo Basement: 41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments. We had put our dog ThelmaLu down and it was the first time I had laughed (or stopped crying) since. Since I do teach elementary science, I am a bit biased about my students’ science fair projects. The above images are from the Flatlands Amersfort School Science Fair 2007 and are not part of the 41 spoof. But I must say, for elementary school aged kids, they really rank amongst the Middle & High School calibre projects I’ve seen. And do they know their audience when they use vintage images of products or don’t they know their audience?

Henry L. Schorndorfer of Cleveland OH was a chemist and went into business with founder of Zipp Manufacturing Company – John Zipp in 1885 – the makers of Root Beer. Click here for a detailed PDF of the Zipp company. Schorndorfer later opened the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co. Schorndorfer’s company was also known for making food extracts and in this image above, ammonia and cleaning products. Below are two Google Books archives citing the Schorndorfer & Eberhard Co:

Google Books

Schorndorfer & Eberhard

According to the Annual Statistical Report of the Secretary General of Ohio – 1921, the Schorndorfer company name was officially changed to the Stern Bros. Co.

Schorndorfer & Eberhard

The trail ends there. Any leads?

Vintage Emigrant Bank Ad Shot @ The Virtual Dime Museum

Emigrant Bank - NYPL
NYPL Archival Photo

Read Lidian’s detailed genealogical investigations as well as view some great vintage ads!