Big Berries and Lots of Them!

“Hale Brothers, South Glastonbury, Conn., have printed 25,000 of this Catalogue, and will print an extra edition if necessary, so that all may learn of the wonderful productiveness of THE MANCHESTER Strawberry… Anyone who wants BIG BERRIES will receive our catalogue free, also a beautifully colored plate showing one foot of a row of the Manchester Strawberry in full fruiting, on our grounds, with berries of all sizes, ripe and half ripe, AND LOTS OF THEM.”

Advertising hype is nothing new. In 1883, Hale Brothers gave away copies of The Manchester Strawberry, a chromolithograph by the Kellogg & Bulkeley Company of Hartford, in an attempt to entice people to buy strawberry plants. It certainly makes me want to run out and buy some. To view more prints from the CHS Kellogg collection, visit our online catalog.

On their Way to the Mexican War

After the United States offered statehood to Texas, Mexico severed diplomatic relations. By May 1846, a state of war existed between the two countries, and volunteer militia units began preparing for battle. This lithograph shows the Springfield Light Guard encamped in Branford, Connecticut. I’m not sure why the Hartford lithographers E.B. & E.C. Kellogg depicted these Massachusetts soldiers rather than a Connecticut regiment. Most likely the print was commissioned by someone associated with the Guards. The Kelloggs issued numerous prints of the Mexican War glorifying the conflict. Find more in our online catalog by searching for “Mexican War.”