Archive.org has a host of old seed catalogs (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. I happened across a few in my Pinterest feed and gone completely down the rabbit hole in this treasure trove of information. Sure some ideas might be out of date, but you never know what you might find when you explore these catalogs. I’ll be sharing more catalogs as I find them in the coming weeks. –Douglas
I love the artwork I find in these catalogs. They range from the austere to the fanciful to the comic — as with these Brownies plants and harvesting the flowers they selected. They stand alone as little artworks all by themselves.
Historical Seed Catalogs: Choice flower seeds (1898) – 7 in a series
Download in Text, PDF, Single Page JPG, TORRENT from Archive.org
FOR THE STORY OF THE BROWNIES.
My 1898 Greeting! Cash Prizes
My artist (another woman) has given you, this year, three pictures of the Brownies, viz.: (1) the front cover page, (2) this page and (3) the back cover page, and into these pic- tures, in this order, she has woven a little story, in the right reading of which by my patrons I am very much interested. And so I offer the prizes following for the best interpretation of this story.
More information on this catalog:
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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library