Advertising Ephemera for the Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California

Download or read book Advertising Ephemera for the Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California written by and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A small collection of early 20th-century advertising ephemera for the Cawston Ostrich Farm in South Pasadena, California, the first ostrich farm in the United States, opened by Edwin Cawston in 1886. Included are three advertising cards describing the new industry of ostrich feathers and plumes that has arisen from the breeding of ostriches at the farm. Two of the cards are illustrated with photographic reproductions of a man and a boy riding an ostrich; the third features a photo of one of the ostriches "Fighting Bob Evans." The electric cards brought customers and tourists to the farm every day from Los Angeles and Pasadena. An early postcard or "Private Mailing Card" shows a young boy feeding the ostriches at the farm. A three-panel brochure for the farm from around 1922 advertises "the original ostrich farm of America," with "gigantic birds in their native haunts." The brochure, printed in orange and black, and illustrated with numerous photographs of the farm grounds and animals, describes the process "from egg to plume" of breeding, hatching, maturing of chicks, clipping of plumage, and manufacturing of plumes, fans, boas, ostrich bags, and ostrich-trimmed hats. Visitors could buy excursion tickets at the Pacific Electric Railway ticket office in Los Angeles for 38 cents round trip including admission. A "Souvenir of Cawston Ostrich Farm" ("Made by Curt Teich & Co., Chicago, Ill.") dating from around 1910 presents a color-illustrated portfolio containing an 8-panel accordion fold-out of 16 color photographic reproductions of ostrich eggs and chicks, feeding time, plucking the feathers, feather creations, exhibit room and factory, drying and dyeing the plumes, and feeding oranges to the ostriches. Finally, a 15-page Cawston trade catalog from around 1914, entitled "The beauty of a Cawston ostrich plume," supplies images, descriptions, and prices for different types of plumes, order blanks for new goods and repair work as well as scenes from the farm.