More bookseller back stamps found. My favorite to date is the ad from Frank B. Clark from Portland Maine. Mr. Clark features a circulating library, and informs us that stereoscopic views are 5 cents. Not only do we get an interesting look at Mr. Clark's business, but whoever did the typography and chose the ornaments did a very nice job.
Then I looked at the
offering of JR Barlow and noticed it's the same frame. Did the printers of the stereoviews print the frames on the back, allowing for the retailer to insert their information? Providing blank space seems to have been the norm for things like trade cards during the later 1800s. Why not on stereoviews? I did find a paper label, like those placed in books, usually at the bottom of the front or rear endpaper, on the back of a stereoview.
Did find another back stamp from Bergquest and Johnson in Duluth, Minnesota. This example, from the New York Public Library does not mention that they are booksellers, rather that they are "SPECIAL AGENTS/ For Whitney & Zimmerman's Celebrated Views of/ Minnesota Scenery. /(Send for Catalogue)."
Also, in this week's findings, another rubber stamp. I had read on a stereoview collector's website that generally paper labels precede rubber stamps. When rubber stamps came along, did they eclipse the use of paper labels?
I know some bookstores today still use rubber stamps, especially paperback exchange types. You don't see many shops using small labels today. I can think of one...
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