Boy standing on fence, 1928

  I've realized I don't add enough book illustrations of boys to this site. My only excuse is that, being a girl at one time myself, the depictions of girls and dolls and tea parties touch me deeper than other scenes.

  But today we'll mix things up! Jack here has climbed up on the wooden fence to look over at the pumpkins growing on the other side. Will he jump over and pick one? Far be it from me to spoil the ending!

  This illustration by Clara E. Atwood is from "The Outdoor Book: A Nature Reader for the Second School Year" by Zoe Meyer, published in 1928. 

  For the record: early readers and primers from the 1910s-1930s have great illustrations...just saying! (Hey, I was surprised!)


This book is in the public domain and can be used and shared freely. Click on the image to view a larger version and then save.

Girl and grandfather on the shore, 1899

  This is a beautiful image of a little girl at the shore, stepping over large rocks while her grandfather holds her hand to keep her steady.

  My grandfather looked nothing like this man, but it reminds me of him all the same. He had been in the U.S. Navy and retained a love of all things nautical throughout his life. One of his children made him a ceramic fisherman that looked just like this fella, pipe and all!

  The only thing that irks me here is that we don't know the artist who created it. All we can say is that it was "Printed in Holland". Sigh. Not helpful.

  Aw, well. The image deserves to be shared on its own merits!

This image, published in the annual bound edition of Chatterbox magazine (1899), is in the public domain for any and all to share and enjoy. Click on the image for a larger version and then save to your computer.

Boy watching the clouds, 1905

  This boy is kicking off summer right - arms behind his head, lying in the grass, watching the clouds. No stress, no fuss. 

  Illustrator Josephine Bruce (from my home state of Massachusetts!) created this image for "Songs for Tom, Dick, Bob & Peggy", a book of songs published in 1905. This picture aptly accompanied a song called... wait for it... "Clouds". 

Playing with dolls, 1888

  I could play with my dollhouse for hours, and this little girl looks just as content with her doll family as I remember feeling!

  These illustrations are from a book called "A Merry Go-Round", illustrated by Constance Haslewood and published in 1888. 

  The resolution is not great, but perhaps that just adds to the vintage charm. And I always love seeing children in a completely different era playing in ways that are so similar to how I played, and how I've seen kiddos I love play. 

  Expect more from this book (coming soon!) but for now, enjoy these! Click on the image for a larger version and then save - they are both well into the public domain and out of copyright.

Tawny Owl, 1895

  This fella has such an interesting face. He gazes at the viewer with a quizzical look. "What are you looking at? What are you doing here?? Whooo are you??!" (Sorry, couldn't resist that last one!) 

   This illustration is the work of George Edward Lodge, an artist known for his skill at accurately depicting birds. His initials are visible in the lower left corner. This image is from "Bird Notes" by Jane Mary Hayward, published in 1895.

   This one grabbed my attention, but I look forward to going through the other books Lodge contributed to and admiring his realistic artwork!

Girl and her father looking at nest, 1913

   I'm loving this illustration - by Florence Liley Young - of a little girl proudly hoisted up by her father for a closer look at a nest in a tree.

   I guess it's not surprising that pictures of fathers with their children are pretty rare. This book, "A Story Garden for Little Children", was published in 1913. It would be another generation or two until fathers were expected to - gasp! - join in with taking care of their kids.

   But when you do find one, it's special. And when you find a beautiful one like this...it's a treasure.

  This image is in the public domain and can be used freely. Click on the image for a larger version.

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A young artist, 1906

   This is a nice image by Katharine H. Greenland, but it's even better when matched with the poem that accompanied it in the 1906 book "Candle Light" by Georgia Roberts Durston. 

  The poem is called Two Artists: 

My Mother's color-box is twice

As large as mine and clean and nice,

With brushes just like kitten fur.

So soft, they scarcely make a blur,

And every time she paints with one,

A lovely picture will be done.

And yet, you'd be surprised to see

How proud my Mother is of me.

She says she loves the things I do,

She says I am an artist too,

And hangs her pictures up with mine,

All nice and even in a line.

   Aww, I think that's just so sweet. And being the recipient of some kid drawings that I treasure, I have no doubt that the mom in that poem truly does love what that little girl creates!

  As a bonus, one more Greenland illustration from the same book. This one went with a poem called Her Dolls. She's pointing out a doll, as the poem describes each one. But it looks to me like she might be scolding one. Hey, it's not easy being a young mother to so many little ones!

Whimsical Squirrels, 1910

   Two of these squirrels thought it would be wise to carry their acorn. But the third little guy just had to show off his balancing skills. There's one in every family, even squirrel families, it would seem.

  All these adorable squirrels are from the 1910 primer, "A Primer by Bryce & Spaulding". The same artist also created these cute children illustrations.

   Margaret Ely Webb is not credited by her full name anywhere in the book. But her initials are included in some of the illustrations, giving us enough of a hint to know she contributed her talent. 

   To be fair, I can only say with certainty that Margaret Webb created the one above, with a mother squirrel cutting an acorn for her 3 hungry little ones, all wearing bibs and ravenous expressions. (Notice the initials on the left, next to one of the baby squirrels.)

   The other illustrations seem to be a similar style to my untrained eye. In any case, just enjoy the whimsical cuteness of this woodland family! 

  These are all in the public domain and out of copyright; they can be shared and used however you wish. Click each image to view a larger version, then save it to your computer.

Boy with toy boat at pond, 1910

  

 I love this little fella, holding his toy boat, standing in front of a gorgeous pond with a beautiful tree's image reflected on the water. 

 Ruth Mary Hallock illustrated "Little Rhymes for Little Readers" (1910), the source of both images featured in this post. She is another of those authors who has a knack for depicting childhood scenes.

  This illustration shows a girl who is kneeling in the grass to get a better look at the spring flowers. 

  This particular image accompanied a super-short poem by Wilhelmina Seegmiller called "The Rail-Fence Corners":

In the rail-fence corners,

 In the sunny, happy May,

Flowers get together

To pass the time o' day

  (Now that poem is perfect for short attention spans!) 

Children with grandmother, 1913

   It's always special when Grandma comes to visit. She listens to the most mundane stories with rapt attention, she brings presents, and she gives the best hugs!

   The three children in this illustration by Florence Liley Young are most interested in the "present" part just now. In the story "Three Guesses", in "A Story Garden for Little Children" (1913), each child has...yep, three chances to guess what's inside the package. 

    Not to be a spoiler, but I bet they're going to end up with the surprise in any case!

  This image is in the public domain and can be used freely. Click on the image for a larger version and save to your computer.  

Girl planting in garden, 1923

  This girl is working hard to get the soil ready for planting - and in a dress and bonnet, no less!  She hasn't even seemed to notice the butterflies fluttering around her, encouraging her to plant something pollinator-friendly. (Or at least that's what I imagine they'd be whispering!)

   This illustration, from "Surprise Stories" by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, was published in 1923. And it's no surprise that Florence E. Nosworthy (also known as Florence Pearl England) did a great job here - she always does! (Yes, I make bad jokes and puns way too often, I've been told...)

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Children on a wooden fence, 1910

  I imagine these children are siblings (look at those heads of curls!), but maybe that's just me. In any case, they're having great fun and are full of smiles. (Well, we don't know Baby's expression - probably pride from making it up on the fence like the "big kids"!)

  This illustration is from the book "Little Sunbeams", a collection of children's stories edited by Edric Vredenburg. The wise minds at the Digital Archive Ontario estimate it was published around 1910.

  All I know for certain about the artist is that their initials are "M.B." Which doesn't narrow it down much. Another image, below, that caught my eye has the same initials. Which proves another thing - M.B. is talented (fact) and his or her depictions of children are oh-so-charming (okay, that one's my opinion...but I'm right!). 

  Both these images are free of copyright and can be used however you wish - share, modify, print...have a blast! Click on an image for a larger version, and then save to your computer. 

Edited to add: M.B. could very possibly be May Bowley! Comment if you have any confirmation or other suggestions - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Girl planting seeds, 1906

  

   We're still in the season when it seems everyone is talking about gardening, planting, and the flowers they're hoping to see. I'm not one of these people. Sure, flowers are great, but bugs, worms, dirt...um, no thanks!

  Still, I loved this illustration from a 1906 book for early readers. The little girl is concentrating so hard on digging the perfect hole to plant her seeds. Artist Bessie Collins Pease (later Gutmann) captured her intensity perfectly. 

  I'd love to hear - are you a dig-in-the-garden person or an admire-flowers-from-a-distance type? 

Two girls playing dolls, 1890s

   I'm not usually one to care about fashion, or, really, even notice it too much. But the dress and little boots on the girl with the braids drew my attention...and then I saw that adorable little pram! I would have *loved* one of those when I was little. (Or now...just saying!)

   This is from a book called "A Christmas Box of Pretty Stories". The artist is unknown to me; even the authors of the stories here go uncredited. All I can say for sure is that it was published by McLoughlin Bros. in New York, probably in the 1890s. The same image also appears in "The Book of Dollies" by Mary E. Gellie, published in 1890. 

  This image is out of copyright and can be altered, shared, crafted with...anything you want! Click on the image to see a larger version and then save and enjoy! 

Little girl plays pretend messenger, 1888

What a little cutie! Dressed in fairy wings and pulling a basket filled with packages, this girl is rocking the pretend play. The caption of this image, in adorable little-kid speak, reads, 

"I'm a messender, you see, 

Fwom Hymen's Expwess Tumpany."

  This illustration, by Jessie McDermott, is from the 1888 children’s novel, “Clover”, the fourth installment of Susan Coolidge’s "What Katy Did" series.

  (Check out McDermott's cool monogram in the lower-left corner. I love and hate these monograms. They're neat, but so difficult to decipher if you don't already know the artist! Okay, that's my rant of the day...)

  And I have another one to share - same illustrator from the same book. 

  A young girl holding a doll watches two women examine a piece of cloth. 

  These images are out of copyright. They can be used freely, however you like. Click on each to see a larger version, then save to your computer.

Happy Children Jumping, 1880

   This is a little illustration, but it really jumped out at me (no pun intended!).

   In it, a young child jumps into the arms of a man - maybe a father or a grandfather, hopefully not a random stranger...- while two other children (I'm thinking siblings) wait their turn. They are happy and, what struck me most, secure in the fact that Dad (Grandpa? Uncle?) will catch them safely. 

   Even a doggo is trying to get in on the fun!

   This one was published in the "Little Folks Reader", 1880. It was captioned “The Little German Children” and accompanied a story called “What I Saw in Boston”.

   I just love that such a seemingly simple illustration can have so many layers to it.

Victorian-era Ads - Beautiful Typography, circa 1852-1876

   I came across some gorgeous typography in an old scrapbook at the Library Company of Philadelphia's online collection. My only regret is that some of the images were too blurry to share here. (Despite my best attempts to enhance them!) 

   But, on the plus side, I did find some great ones to share! 

   Specifically, these are from a scrapbook of print specimens and proofs dated circa 1852 to circa 1876. The library infers that they were "probably compiled by a printer associated with the Philadelphia lithographic firm Stein & Jones." Okay, we'll go with that. 

   McKnight & Co. boasts of their "chemically pure...lead" paint. You don't see that anymore! 

  I don't know about you, but I would have been tempted to stop by Williams & Coons to check out their "Fancy Goods". And not because of their lovely ad. Okay, not just because of that.

  All images are in the public domain. Click any image for a larger version, then save and enjoy! 

Children Dancing Around Maypole, 1910

  These children are enjoying a fun May Day with a dance around the maypole!

  This fun illustration was featured on the first page of the short story, "A May Day in the Great City", from the book "Little Sunbeams", published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, circa 1910.

  I was not able to determine with any certainty who the initials "A.L.B" refer to. (So frustrating!) If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it! 

Victorian Family, 1896

  This is an illustration by Bertha G. Davidson, used as the frontispiece for the book "The Merry Five" by Shirley Penn, published in 1896. 

  I'd always wanted a large family like this, full of siblings. Though being a sensitive child who needed my quiet time, this was a completely illogical wish! Still, this sweet image conjures up all kinds of homey, loving vibes.

  This image is in the public domain and can be used freely - alter, print, craft, enjoy! Click the image to view a larger version, then save it to your computer.

Girl hugging grandmother, 1887

   This one hit me hard. The illustration and the story it accompanies went right to my heart. Poor Nora’s favoritest doll meets with misfortune in the form of a mischievous kitty. She runs to her grandma in tears, certain her doll is ruined. But grandma saves the day, as grandmas often do. She tells Nora about a similar experience she had as a girl, all while fixing the damage to the beloved doll.

   The story ends with Nora exclaiming,

“I do think that grandmas are the very best folks to have around when things happen!”

I heartily agree. I was fortunate enough to have a nana much the same, who seemed to be able to fix everything at any time. Let's hear it for those very special grandmas! 

   This image was included in the Little One’s Annual, a collection of stories, poems, and illustrations for children published in 1887. It accompanied the short story, “Dolls’ Trials” by Mary Elizabeth Northam (M.E.N.) Hatheway. 

Boston Library Society, 1888

   This is such a neat piece of ephemera! I found it while searching through old books online. This is one of those cases where I forgot to write down where I got it from (oops!), so I can only credit HathiTrust's vast resources. Check out that potential late fee of a whopping 1 cent!

   I learned from a little searching that the Boston Library Society was a subscription library founded in 1792. It had many notable members until it merged with the Boston Athenæum in 1939.

   Being from Boston and loving libraries, this is an extra-special find to me. I hope other book nerds and ephemera lovers will appreciate it, too! 

Sewing Machines, 1905

   I have a special connection to all things sewing thanks to my nana, so these neat vintage sewing machines immediately caught my attention. They're all from a 1905 London catalogue. 

   This model is called the "Elsa Sewing Machine", a "Hand machine on [an] iron base." It looks so handy and portable, but I bet the iron made it heavy! 

      It's interesting that for all the ways sewing machines have changed - and they can certainly do a lot more now, I'd imagine - the overall design hasn't changed so much. The bobbins of thread on the top, the crank on the side. 

   The one above was captioned as "The Bradbury Company's celebrated English-made machine."

   I was able to remove the background from a couple of these, to make them handy for digital crafting. Everything here is in the public domain - create, share, and alter however you wish! (Remember to click on the image for a larger size!)

French Label Pages, circa 1900s

   Ooh, I'm so excited to share these pages! They come from a French printer's catalog circa 1900. I had originally thought to just make my favorites into a printable, but there were so many awesome ones, I decided to share them all!

   My personal favorites? That's a tough one, but I do like the simple ones below. Wouldn't they look right at home on an old apothecary jar? 

  But perhaps your tastes run a bit fancier? You might like these...

  

   I have a few more that I loved, and I'm sharing the whole bundle over at Ko-fi. Don't worry - they're free. (Everything I share over there is!) So check it out at Old Paper Press on Ko-fi and let me know which page or label is your favorite!

Children Illustrations by Mary Ellen Edwards, 1892

   Can't you just feel the excitement of these two little girls, reaching excitedly for passing butterflies, seeming as if they're trying to call them over, like they would if they saw a friend across the road. 

   But the baby is my favorite, sitting contentedly nearby, captivated by the flowers surrounding her. 

  The amazingly talented Mary Ellen Edwards illustrated the images here for Frederic Edward Weatherly's Among the Daisies, published in 1892.

   This second one shows a family eagerly waiting for their father to come home. It accompanied a poem called "Daddy's Coming", which read in part: 

'Tis the hour we love the best,

           Daddy's coming :

For he tells us tales, you know,

Of the brave days long ago,

And we love him, love him so,

       Daddy's coming.