Carrying Baby to Bed, 1888

   I can just imagine it's bedtime for this little one. He might be tired, but he'd never admit it! 

   This image is from a book of poems written by Robert Ellice Mack titled When All Is Young, published in 1888 and beautifully illustrated by Harriet M. Bennett. 

  And...yep, can't resist. Just one more from this book. (Promise!) 

 This is a sweet scene by any measure - two little girls, listening attentively to their mother. Maybe it's a thrilling story, maybe some good news to share. But it's the details that I especially love. Check out the doll in the background, dropped on the floor and forgotten, and the empty doll bed next to the chair. And we can't forget Fido, listening just as earnestly as the girls. 

  These images are all in the public domain and free to use however you wish. Click on either image (or both!) to get the largest size. 

Victorian children by John C. Staples

   I love these two kiddos, trying to make their boat float, letting go gently in the hopes it stays upright. (Float, little boat - you got this!) 

   These images are from F. E. Weatherly's Told in the Twilight, published at the end of the 1800s. These particular illustrations were all created by John C. Staples. 

  This is an...interesting book of poems for children. (That's one way to put it!) The collection included a poem about two girls distraught after finding a dead bunny, with a lovely illustration that I just couldn't bring myself to save because it tore at my heart, and a poem called "The Misguided Lamb" about a little guy who was "most crooked and contrary". Spoiler alert: the poor lamb does not have a happy ending. "Minnie's Calculations" tell the story of a girl who dreams of the money she will get for her chicks, when, one by one, they all die. Horribly. And there's another spread from the point of view of a cat who has apparently just eaten the pet bird, with an illustration of the cat sitting on a chair, looking down at two girls hugging each other and crying, the open bird cage empty on the ground beside them. Interestingly, the cat notes that these same girls eat the ducks and chicks they care for. An astute cat indeed.

   The illustrations in this book are unfailingly gorgeous and worth a look. The poems are mostly heartbreaking, with most having at least some element of despair, and should be avoided by the more sensitive among us. (Lesson learned!) 

 

  But these illustrations....oh, these I had to share!

  And I did learn one important thing - I need to add John C. Staples to my growing list of artists I'd never heard of but now I love! 

Haliburton First Reader Illustrations, 1912

    

  Okay, I'll admit my fail. I spent way too much a bit of time trying to find the illustrator of these images (I especially love the one above!) but I came up short. I even ran some samples through AI to see if they could figure it out where my research fell short, and I got a different answer every time. Sigh. 

     But we can still enjoy the images without knowing who created them! The one above is an illustration to go with a "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" poem. 

   These are all from "The Haliburton First Reader", written by Margaret Winifred Haliburton, published in Boston in 1912. 

Vintage Seed Catalog Covers Printable

   I'm no expert, but I'm just going to put this out there - vintage seed catalogs are gorgeous! Even if you ignore the flowers completely, they have the most beautiful typography. I'm newly obsessed with them. 

  So I was delighted to find that the Smithsonian has a large collection of these covers, online and ready to view! 

   So I truly enjoyed going through various collections and picking out my favorites to make a couple of printable collage sheets. The first has covers sized to 2.5"x 3.5"; the second sheet has slightly more variable sizes. 

  You can download these from Dropbox (click here or just click on the image above) or head over to Ko-fi. Either way, they're free and made completely with public domain images. I hope you make something fun with them. If there's any issue, let me know - I'm new at this printable business, so I'd truly love to hear how it works out!  

Children sledding in winter, 1912

  Yes, I know...I'm totally in the wrong season. While everyone around me is thinking "spring", I'm sharing this winter illustration. <Shrugs>

  This sweet scene of two children sledding while two adults (parents?) look on was created by Florence Storer for the 1912 book, "Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse", written by Eugene Field.

  I also made a slight alteration, because I just love the black & white look! 

 

Girls Crafting with Dolls Trade Card, circa late 1800s

   New wardrobe time! These girls are busy making new dresses for their dolls. (Except for Kitty, who is determined to swat the fancy hat off one particular doll!)

  Even the toddler is getting in on the fun, with [eek!] a pair of scissors in her little fist. 

 This is a Victorian-era trade card, probably from the late 19th century. I couldn't find out any more about this one, so if you have any tips - or maybe you spot a clue I missed - I'd love to hear it! 

  Regardless, this is an adorable illustration, and I'm so glad I came across it while browsing a scrapbook filled with trade cards online. 

Metropolitan Mother Goose children's book, 1920

 

   These illustrations by Emma Clark are from the children's book, "The Metropolitan Mother Goose", published in 1920.

  This is a whimsically illustrated book, printed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, with retellings of traditional Mother Goose rhymes by Elizabeth C. Watson. These had a more optimistic tone than the originals. For example, Old Mother Hubbard looked in her cupboard and found "wholesome and good" food for her children, while Jack and Jill went up the hill, but they came down again safely with water for the whole town. (That must have been one heavy bucket!)

   In the top image, the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe is a doting mother who gives her children plenty of food and a cozy place to sleep. I much prefer this version over the one where she "whips them all soundly" before bedtime! Although the last line here, "The needed no pills, they all slept so sound," does make one do a double-take.

  And two last pages that caught my eye: 

   I definitely need to do a little more searching for Emma Clark's work. I just love her fun illustrations!