(IOWA) First Train Through on the Muscatine and Oskaloosa Ra

Sale 2546 - Lot 103

Price Realized: $ 3,500

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(IOWA.) First Train Through on the Muscatine and Oskaloosa Rail Road! Illustrated poster, 37 1/4 x 24 inches, printed in red and black; moderate foxing, professionally restored and laid down on linen. Philadelphia and Muscatine, IO, September 1851

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About the funnest general store poster we've ever seen. It was created for Parmer & Doolittle of Muscatine, Iowa. The outer printing in black was done in Philadelphia, consisting mostly of humorous cartoons. You might think for a moment that this was a generic frame for use by dry goods stores across the county, but many of the captions make specific reference to Parmer & Doolittle. The eye-catching top illustration shows a train on the town's new railroad which was still in the planning phase in 1851. Its locomotive power is supplied by a massive bull, and a passenger carries a banner reading "Hurrah for Parmer & Doolittle." Beneath the train is "the New Aerial Rail Road from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Returning from the World's Fair," showing several passengers literally riding a rail behind a space-age jet. Below that is a frame of cartoons of satisfied customers. The firm apparently had the black illustrated portions printed up in advance in Philadelphia, and then were able to print their current sales and new shipments locally in red text, with a Muscatine imprint line. They boast "Here we come, direct from the East! Quick sales and small profits is our motto! 300 packages new goods, receiving and now opening at the cash and barter store of Parmer & Doolittle." None traced at auction or in OCLC.