Click main image below to view enlargements and captions.

Illustration Art, Food Can Label, Carl Schurz Brand, Wisconsin Peas, Antique Painting, Early 20th Century

$550

Carl Schurz Brand Wisconsin Early June Peas, Watertown Canning Co., Watertown, Wisconsin
Minneapolis: c. 1906-1920
Gouache and ink on card stock
Stamped verso by Kimball-Storer Co.
4 x 11 inches
$550

Hand-painted original illustration art created for the Kimball-Storer Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is one of a group of six designs for canned food companies in Minnesota and Wisconsin that we are offering separately. Each is in a graphic style influenced by Art Nouveau. Although they are undated, most have text referring to the Food and Drugs Act of June 30, 1906. Other information about companies for which the labels were made suggests that as a group, the labels were produced no later than around 1920.

Illustrated with a cluster of open and closed green pea pods within the company emblem, and with a portrait of Carl Schurz (1829-1906), a prominent lawyer, newspaper publisher and politician who had spent part of his early career in Watertown.  Hand-lettered text includes “Guaranteed by Watertown Canning Co. under the Food and Drugs Act. June 30, 1906. Serial No. 47815. Contenents [sic] 1 lb. 4 oz.”

Product description continues below.

Description

Carl Schurz was a German immigrant to the United States, settling in Watertown, Wisconsin i9n 1852.  Apparently he was not involved in the food or canning business; the use of his name and image by Watertown Canning Co. appears instead to be tribute to a prominent past citizen.  Rather, he became involved with politics on a national level, serving as a senator from Missouri and as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Rutherford B. Hayes. He moved to New York City in 1881 and continued to be active in political activism and was an editorial writer there for Harpers Weekly. Carl Schurz Park, a large public park in New York City, is named for him.  It is in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, formerly a largely German-American community. The park contains Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of New York City

Stamped verso: Kimball-Storer Co. 500 So. Fourth St. Minneapolis.

The Kimball-Storer Company was a Minneapolis, Minnesota, printing and firm that also published books. It was in business from at least 1897 to at least the 1920s.

Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, handling associated with working illustration art.

References:

“Carl Schurz.” Wikipedia. 8 September 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Schurz (29 September 2017).

Additional information

Century

20th Century