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Description
12 x 14 inches roughly 150 page primarily the years1871-76 with additional insertions from the 1880’s.
Ralph Blaisdell: Born 23 August 1864 in Hanover, New Hampshire and died 26 June 1949 in St. Augustine, Florida.
Exceptional scrapbook compiled by Ralph Blaisdell complied as a youth while living in Providence, Rhode Island and later Brooklyn, New York primarily 1871-1876. Ralph later became a noted railroad executive for many years with a number of Railroad companies. Ralph’s early love for steamships and trains is evident throughout the large scrapbook which is in reality a quarterly ship’s log book. Ralph converted the captain’s log book into his own personal scrapbook. The contents contain a boy’s folk art, musings and life growing up with an affluent family in Providence. There are multiple newspaper articles pasted throughout from local Providence newspapers and publications on a wide range of topics. In addition Ralph saved produce crate labels from local vendors and other ephemera that are beautifully organized throughout the folio. But it is his sketches of steamboats and trains and other topics found throughout the folio that are truly wonderful. There is even a sketch of what appears to General George Custer being ambushed by ravenous Indians warriors? The log book does have some identifying notations as to what ship or ship’s it may have belonged to which include “M.E.M.Blaisdell” METES and a sketch of the Bristol and other steamships including notation’s stating P. Easterbrooks Martin, Speedwell and so forth. There is also a fascinating article concerning the health of the President Garfield trying to recover from an assassin’s bullet who is being affected by the vegetation fertilized by human waste from the Potomac River and the air quality of DC. And how physicians fear he is not going to survive if he doesn’t leave Washington and the malarial air”
Just (some) of the additional highlights of this scrapbook include:
*B.T.Babbitt’s Saleratus vendor’s label
*Father Gray’s old books sale broadside 1873
*Auction Sale of Slaves Playbill with additional acts
*1883 Box Score between the New York Metropolitans and the New York nine. Details of the game won by the Metropolitans 8 to 4
*Does a tree grow in Brooklyn? Well that answer is found in this scrapbook…An 1876 program from the Brooklyn Baptist Union states the congregation is planting a Centennial tree in honor of America’s 100th anniversary as a nation. Is that tree still there....or did they paved paradise, put up a parking lot?
*Love Apples fruit label
*The Evening Bulletin Newspaper August 15th 1874
*Broadside Playbill for Aunt Poly Basset’s “Singin Skewl”1872
*Play Advertisement for Lawyer Marks and Aunt Ophella Death of Poor Uncle Tom
*Playbill notice Music Hall Brooklyn Thanksgiving Day Nov 30th 1882 UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
*Boss Tweed in Penitentiary
*Siamese Twins dying and buried under house by their wives refusing autopsy
As stated this is just some of the content of this scrapbook. I wish I could have listed all the pages for your viewing but I am limited to 24. *Please take a moment to examine my other Ralph Blaisdell and Blaisdell family items in my shop.
ref: Blaisdell archive
Ralph Blaisdell: Born 23 August 1864 in Hanover, New Hampshire and died 26 June 1949 in St. Augustine, Florida.
Exceptional scrapbook compiled by Ralph Blaisdell complied as a youth while living in Providence, Rhode Island and later Brooklyn, New York primarily 1871-1876. Ralph later became a noted railroad executive for many years with a number of Railroad companies. Ralph’s early love for steamships and trains is evident throughout the large scrapbook which is in reality a quarterly ship’s log book. Ralph converted the captain’s log book into his own personal scrapbook. The contents contain a boy’s folk art, musings and life growing up with an affluent family in Providence. There are multiple newspaper articles pasted throughout from local Providence newspapers and publications on a wide range of topics. In addition Ralph saved produce crate labels from local vendors and other ephemera that are beautifully organized throughout the folio. But it is his sketches of steamboats and trains and other topics found throughout the folio that are truly wonderful. There is even a sketch of what appears to General George Custer being ambushed by ravenous Indians warriors? The log book does have some identifying notations as to what ship or ship’s it may have belonged to which include “M.E.M.Blaisdell” METES and a sketch of the Bristol and other steamships including notation’s stating P. Easterbrooks Martin, Speedwell and so forth. There is also a fascinating article concerning the health of the President Garfield trying to recover from an assassin’s bullet who is being affected by the vegetation fertilized by human waste from the Potomac River and the air quality of DC. And how physicians fear he is not going to survive if he doesn’t leave Washington and the malarial air”
Just (some) of the additional highlights of this scrapbook include:
*B.T.Babbitt’s Saleratus vendor’s label
*Father Gray’s old books sale broadside 1873
*Auction Sale of Slaves Playbill with additional acts
*1883 Box Score between the New York Metropolitans and the New York nine. Details of the game won by the Metropolitans 8 to 4
*Does a tree grow in Brooklyn? Well that answer is found in this scrapbook…An 1876 program from the Brooklyn Baptist Union states the congregation is planting a Centennial tree in honor of America’s 100th anniversary as a nation. Is that tree still there....or did they paved paradise, put up a parking lot?
*Love Apples fruit label
*The Evening Bulletin Newspaper August 15th 1874
*Broadside Playbill for Aunt Poly Basset’s “Singin Skewl”1872
*Play Advertisement for Lawyer Marks and Aunt Ophella Death of Poor Uncle Tom
*Playbill notice Music Hall Brooklyn Thanksgiving Day Nov 30th 1882 UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
*Boss Tweed in Penitentiary
*Siamese Twins dying and buried under house by their wives refusing autopsy
As stated this is just some of the content of this scrapbook. I wish I could have listed all the pages for your viewing but I am limited to 24. *Please take a moment to examine my other Ralph Blaisdell and Blaisdell family items in my shop.
ref: Blaisdell archive
