Special Collections Department

An early catalog from a regional firm specializing in drugs and pharmaceutical supplies.

In business since 1796, McAllister sold microscopes, telescopes, magic lanterns, drafting equipment, and eyeglasses. On the back cover is a map of Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, which documents the location of banks, hotels, and government buildings in a ten block area, adding to the catalog's value to students of urban history.

This early catalog contains samples of wire netting attractively displayed on black and gold paper. Munson Brothers manufactured mill stones, engines, and boilers, as well as supplies for agricultural milling.

This broadside depicts Hainsworth & Son's innovative new snow plow for use by railroad locomotives.

Trade catalogs serve as important documentary sources for the history of science and technology. This catalog describes and depicts an astonishing array of scientific instruments and equipment ranging from such familiar items as microscopes and beakers to long-forgotten, exotic devices that seem more appropriate for a Rube Goldberg cartoon.

This catalog from a leather dyeing firm contains numerous dyed leather samples.

The company manufactured hoisting and pumping machinery, air compressors, and rock drills. The covers and interior illustration show beautifully colored lithographic views of the factory complex. These illustrations give today's scholars information about the waterfront area of turn-of-the-century San Francisco.

By 1900 a wide variety of telephones were available, using different types of batteries and generators for electricity.

This is more of a recipe book for yarn dyes than a trade catalog, but it was also used to show cloth manufacturing companies what yarns were available.