I have visited East Avenue in Rochester, New York several times. My purpose was to see where the home of the seedsman James Vick (1818-1882) once stood. I found the spot though the house of course is long gone. It…
My past few posts here have centered on a look at the roots of American consumer culture. I have written mainly about how advertising at the end of the ninteenth century became the major tool which motivated people to buy…
America was built on the principle of free expression of ideas. From the beginning of the country newspapers operated with the assurance of a free press. As a result of the Post Office Act of 1792, a new form of…
The seed and nursery catalog by the end of the nineteenth century had become a small book, not only because of the number of color illustrations that appeared within its pages, but also because the garden catalog had so many…
In 1906 the Boston seed firm W. W. Rawson moved into its new building with four floors at 5 Union Street in the downtown area. The company had by that time enjoyed years of business in the seed industry which…