Description
The artwork was 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 George Glazer Gallery offers for sale. 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.
Alexander “Alex” Faribault (1806 –1882) was an American businessman and politician. He was born in Prairie du Chien, Michigan Territory. He helped to found the city of Faribault, Minnesota and was its first postmaster. He owned a trading post and in 1851 served in the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives. The historic Alexander Faribault House, still extant, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Faribault Canning & Preserving Company was founded by a group of investors in Faribault, Minnesota, in 1888, and bought out and reincorporated by a group of farmers seven years later as Faribault Canning Company. By 1903 the company was on track to pack 1.5 million cans of corn, until fire devastated the facility in 1904. They rebuilt and continued operating under the Faribault name (eventually becoming Fairbault Foods), although ownership changed hands several times. The company grew throughout the 20th and early 21st century. In 2014 it merged with Arizona Canning under the name La Costeña, and is a major food processing company that still operates a large factory in Faribault, Minnesota.
The artwork is ink 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.
References:
“Alexander Faribault.” Wikipedia. 7 May 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Faribault (30 October 2017)
“Our History.” Faribault Foods. http://www.faribaultfoods.com/about.php (30 October 2017)