Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: Schrader Building, 101 S. Pennsylvania Street

C.A. Schrader Building, 101-105 South Pennsylvania Street, home of C.A. Schrader Wholesale Grocer from 1901 to 1953.  (Image: Bass Photo Collection, Indiana Historical Society) The American Civil War had yet to begin when C. F....

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Ads: Billingsley Florist

Though Wiegand’s and Bertermann’s operated their Indianapolis floral trades for decades, some were not so lucky, nor so long-lived. One such business was tucked into a small space on the northeast corner of Ohio and...

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Posted in: Bicycles, Historic Miscellania Keep Your Sauerkraut Away From My Bicycles

In 1896, readers of the Christmas Eve edition of Cycling Life, a trade magazine for America’s exploding bicycle industry, might have noticed this clever ad.  Probably drawn by an illustrator at an advertising house in Chicago,...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: Local bedmaker T.B.Laycock dreamed of a better workplace

Money was tight on a preacher’s salary, but that didn’t deter my great-grandparents from buying a brand new Mission-style bed when they first set up housekeeping in the early 1900s. Over the next half century, their...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: “The Favorite”

In 1899, “The Favorite,” billed as a confectionery, sold ice cream soda, candies, and … oysters?  Oysters have been long regarded as aphrodisiacs, which may explain their juxtaposition with the sweets and perfumes offered at...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: Frank H. Smith Printing

Hadn’t heard of this one before, but a cursory search shows this company was active in the 1880’s and 1890’s at least. Was he put out of business by Bobbs-Merrill? Did he move on elsewhere?...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: The Name Game

It’s probably an understatement to describe me as “resistant to change.”   My last four cars have been Nissan Altimas.  My last five phones have been Blackberries. I’ve spent the past 22 years arguing the relative...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: Antique ad show brings back Indy’s Wonder Years

In late September, there was a spirited bidding war on ebay over an item that most people would consider a piece of trash. The lucky buyer who won the 100-year-old can of Van Camp’s Pork...

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