Cultural Images' List 18-2
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CULTURAL IMAGES’ LIST 18-2 A Spring Miscellany Covering a Variety of Subjects! Neurologist F.X. Dercum Prescribes Poland Water 1. [ADVERTISING – Billhead with Medical Interest] Hiram Ricker & Sons, Philadelphia. Color illustrated billhead advertising Poland Water with images of a labeled bottle of the celebrated water and its branded cork; a litho of the Poland Spring House; and another of the Maine State Building at the World’s Fair. The bill was made out to a Dr. Dercum, who was treating Mrs. A.L. Mills of Portland, Oregon, while in Philadelphia, on December 26, 1905 for the purchase of one five-gallon demijohn of Poland Water. An inn was opened by a spring near Poland, Maine in 1797. The grandson of the first innkeeper claimed the spring water cured him of dyspepsia. By the 1860s, with the craze over (what later proved to be quack) patent medicines and the healing powers of certain spring waters, the original inn grew to a resort where people could come to drink the water to be healthy. The pictured Poland Spring House was remodeled and added-to from an earlier structure and opened to the public in 1876. Because of its popularity, Poland Water began to be bottled and distributed throughout the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Poland Spring water is still being distributed as a bottled water as a subsidiary of Nestlé. The prescribing doctor was Francis Xavier Dercum (1856-1931), a noted neurologist who specialized in treating nervous and mental disorders. The 1929 Wallace Street address on the billhead was the location of Dercum’s private sanitarium. Dercum taught at the University of Pennsylvania and was on the staff of the Philadelphia General Hospital. Later, he became the hospital’s consulting neurologist. He also served in similar consulting capacities to other psychiatric hospitals, including one for the criminally insane. As a neurologist, he is known for having treated President Woodrow Wilson. The billhead measures 8 3/8” x 6 ½” and is in Fine condition. Great soft colors and fine graphics. [14- 3000] PRICE $ 25 Presbyterian Missionaries in Central Alaska 2. [ALASKA – Nenana Missionary Photographs] Marquis, Rev. R.R. Collection of thirty-two (32) vintage snapshot photographs (plus four duplicates for a total of 36 photos) of the Nenana, Alaska area related to the presence of the Grace Presbyterian Church and the Sabbath School Missionary program of the Presbyterian Church in the Yukon Presbytery, circa 1924-1927. The majority of the photos measure approximately 3 ¼” x 5 ½”, plus a few smaller ones. Sixteen of the photos are identified in the same manuscript hand on the back side. Four of the photos bear the ink imprint of the “Rev. R.R. 1 Marquis / Sabbath School Missionary / Presbyterian Church U.S.A. / Nenana, Alaska”. The circa 1924- 1927 date of the photos was determined because that time period coincides with Rev. Marquis’ tenure in Nenana. The Rev. Robert J. Diven organized the Presbyterian church in November, 1918 to serve as a center for a widespread ministry to the native Nenana/Athabascan language speaking peoples and settlements along the line of the Alaska Railroad, the construction of which began in 1915 to connect Nenana to the southern port of Anchorage. In 1923 the long truss railroad bridge was opened across the Tanana River near Nenana which linked the community to Fairbanks and Seward. During that time period, the population swelled to around 5,000 people. The Auburn Seminary Record (Vol 14 / 1918-1919) reported that the Rev. and Mrs. Diven drew the plans and specifications for what would become the Grace Presbyterian Church of Nenana. An architect took their plans and drew up the working sketches. “These however were chewed up by some dogs on the day the building was started but work was finished successfully without them.” The combination church/manse was built in 40 days at a cost of $6,200. After the railroad construction was completed, the town had a dramatic drop in population and the church could no longer support a pastor, so it became more of a mission station. The Rev. Robert R. Marquis, a graduate of the 1914 class of McCormack Theological Seminary, arrived in Nenana in 1924 and for three years made an attempt to revive the congregation and at the same time establish mission Sunday schools at a number of points along the railroad line where they were no other Christian organizations. The attempt to revitalize the church was not successful and by 1927 Marquis was in Anchorage. The church building was only occasionally used by other groups, like Episcopalians, but finally was abandoned by the Presbytery. Today the population of Nenana is about 400. This group of photographs documents the church building, congregational activity, Sunday school, Boy Scout troop, visit of members of Presbytery, missionaries serving in Alaska, dog sledding, and boat traffic. Captions on some include, Boy Scouts on the trail at 30 degrees below zero; Members of Presbytery ready to leave (at the train station); Nenana Church & Manse; 55 [degrees] below zero church attendants; Nenana Church & S.S. party – Rev. Vernon in picture / also Bobby / Luella; Mrs. Sacante’s S.S. class; and Yukon Presbytery / Vernon, Marquis, Youel. The Rev. James F. Vernon served in Nenana in 1924 and throughout Alaska in the later 1920s; Rev. John Youel served in Alaska in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. Altogether, this collection of vintage photographs provides a wonderful visual overview of the work (and the conditions under which they worked) of the early 20th century Presbyterian missionaries in central Alaska. Good detail and clarity. [AGLF-Alaska] PRICE: $ 275 2 Bank of Jonesboro, Arkansas 3. [ARKANSAS – Photographs] Robins, W.L. Pair of mounted cabinet views (6 ½” x 4 ¼”) showing two different views of the Bank of Jonesboro in Jonesboro, Arkansas, circa 1890s. One view is vertical and shows the two-story brick building with its pediment high above the angled doorway (where two men are standing) at the corner of a block; the other is a horizontal view of the bank which shows an empty lot to the left of the building with a little snow showing on the street and roofs in the background. Both photos bear the photographer Robin’s imprint on the face of the mount; one reads “W.L. Robins, Jonesboro, Ark” and the other, “Jonesboro Robins Arkansas”. Jonesboro, in the northeast part of Arkansas, is the county seat of Craighead County and home to Arkansas State. Printed on the back of the vertical view is information about the Bank of Jonesboro dated January 21, 1888. The text is addressed “To the Farmers and Merchants of Craighead and adjoining Counties” and details the bank’s resources and liabilities (a corresponding $85,197.74) and states that they have “boxes in the vault to rent at $1.50 per year and every man can have a fire proof safe of his own for a trifle”. The stockholders are listed, including Judge W.H. Cate, President; G.W. Calberhouse, Vice President; and O.M Nilson, Cashier. Other prominent stockholders included Judge J.E. Riddick; Dr. Thos. H. Wyse; J.C. Hawthorne; Sam A. Warner Jr.; E.F. Brown; J.C. Brookfield; John K. Gibson; Marcus Berger; and one lady, Mrs. M.A. Hills. Judge Cate (1839-1899), listed as President of the bank in 1888, was one of the organizers in 1887. Cate had served as a captain in the Confederate Army; studied law and was admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1866; was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives (1871- 1873); became a judge in 1884; and served twice as an Arkansas Representative to the U.S. Congress (1889-1890 and 1891-1893). Both photographs are a little light in contrast, but, with the exception of a small circular dark spot on the horizontal view, are in VG+ condition. Arkansas photographs do not often appear on the market. 3 Consequently, this pair of views of the Bank of Jonesboro, built in a late Victorian commercial architectural style, serves as important visual documents of the growth and economy of that part of Arkansas. [18-GLF] PRICE for the Pair: $125 Portland, OR Responds to the SF Fire & Earthquake 4. [CALIFORNIA – San Francisco Fire & Earthquake] Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Two-sided, printed program (5 3/8” x 7 ¾”) with one side the Order of Service for Sunday, April 23 [1906] and the other side the notice of a Special Service for San Francisco Sufferers during both the morning and evening services (Portland, OR: Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal Church, [1906]). “Both services today will be given over to the interests of the San Francisco Sufferers… Special offerings will be taken at both services… Special Music… The subject for the Prayer Meeting next Thursday night will be “What Do You Know About San Francisco?” Both of the special services were arranged by Dr. W.A. Cumming. Very rare program of a Christian community in a neighboring state about 600 miles to the north supporting the victims of the great San Francisco fire and earthquake, that had occurred five days earlier, through prayer and money. Printed on thin paper, this rare program has a horizontal fold mark and is in Fine condition. [18-455] PRICE: $ 30 5. [CANADA – British Columbia] Canadian Pacific Railway Lines. Booklet with the cover title Canada’s Evergreen Playground / Victoria B.C. (Canadian Pacfic Railway Lines. 1930). Illus paper wraps with the front cover illustration in color showing a young woman surrounded by roses and a young man teeing off on a golf course overlooking the ocean; 6” x 9”; 24pp plus a list of Canadian Pacific Agencies in Canada and the United States printed on inside of back cover; map on page 2 shows water routes between Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver.