John E Dare Coal, Harrisburg PA (c 1915)

The John E Dare Coal Company built the facility pictured on the needlebook in about 1914 as a state of the art coal handling plant.

Front

The Harrisburg Telegraph business directory in December 1914 reports and address of 17th and Chestnut Street on the Bell telephone system  This plant burned down in December 1915.

The needlebook seems to present the 1915 building as the current facility and likely is from the period before the fire.  Ironically, the inside of the needlebook lists the fire alarm boxes in Harrisburg.








Sources:

"Big Elevator and 500 Ton of Coal Destroyed by Fire."  Harrisburg Telegraph, December 18, 1915, p. 1, and 9.  https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038411/1915-12-18/ed-1/seq-1/

"Harrisburg Business Directory."  Harrisburg Telegraph.  December 21, 1914, p. 14.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038411/1914-12-21/ed-1/seq-14.pdf

"Retail Plant of John E. Dare at Harrisburg, Pa."  Coal Trade Journal.  April 15, 2015, p.405
https://books.google.com/books?id=UUvRtlbKU6QC&pg=PA405&lpg=PA405&dq=john+dare+coal+harrisburg+pa&source=bl&ots=9v_QSTYqi8&sig=dbM9yhhU1PHH5zo6EZBOuhwgwKA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRm7-Fh9fdAhXCLH0KHTUdCSYQ6AEwBXoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=john%20dare%20coal%20harrisburg%20pa&f=false

Badcock Home Furnishing Centers (c. 1960 - nlt 1999)

Badcock Home Furnishing Stores' business began in Mulberry Florida in 1904. 

Front and Back

They developed a dealer model and expanded into the Southeast.  In 1999, a rebranding resulted in a new logo replacing the logo that was used from the 1960s and store refresh.  This needlebook has the older logo and therefore likely dates from the 1960s to no later than 1999, the date the logo changed.

Inside

Sources:

https://www.badcock.com/about-us 

"Furniture Retailing.,"  Furniture World Magazine, May 26, 2004.  https://www.furninfo.com/Furniture%20World%20Archives/570

Stiteler-Shroyer Coal Co., Inc., Harrisburg PA (1954?)

Front

The Stiteler-Shroyer Coal Co. of Harrisburg PA advertises its great service.  "Once coaled by us -- never cold again."  The cover of the needlebook has an autumn scene with a little girl holding fall leaves.

Back

 The company asks directly for customers patronage and suggest that their experience in the mines and tidy, thrifty drivers make their product superior.

The back of the cover has the notation "42854 Copyright" on the coal wagon drawing.  This might suggest a 1954 printing.

Alton L. McLain for State Senate (1966)

Alton L. McLain ran as a Republican for the Connecticut State Senate in 1966.  The Bridgeport Telegraph reported his loss in this race on August 11, 1966 which is consistent with the "Vote August 10" on the needlebook sticker.

Front

"The Results.  Senator Hammer defeated Alton L. McLain of North Branford 2.4M to 1.250."

This needle book is a standard needlebook that has had a sticker supporting the campaign applied to the front.  Inside the needle book, the date "1965 3" is consistent with its use during 1966.

Inside

Back

Bridgeport [CT] Telegram, 11 Aug. 1966, p. 3, www.newspapers.com/newspage/32352288/.

Rasco Stores - Line Drawn Bird (unknown between 1950s and 1970s)

A cute little bird brings a Rasco gift of needles for the home seamstress. This was possibly a Christmas season give-away -- the bird's feathers resemble pine needles and he has a ribbon in his beak.

Front and Back

RASCO variety stores were founded in 1934 by F. S. Rasco in Fullerton CA.  Marketing for new stores included a wide variety of merchandise, credit terms and for a grand opening prizes and other give aways for customers.  At the 1966 opening of a Henderson NV RASCO store, "packages of assorted needles" were included among the giveaways.  No way to know what that needlebook looked like but it is an interesting acknowledgement that needlebooks were used as promotional items by RASCO stores. 

Inside

 The RASCO variety stores were headquartered in  Burbank CA and were located in the Western United States primarily in California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.  Founded in 1934 by F. S. Rasco, the RASCO stores were bought by Gamble-Skogmo and closed in the early 1980s.

















“Chain Store Opening Here.” Prescott [AZ] Evening Courier, 3 Oct. 1945, p. 1, 8, news.google.com/newspapers?nid=897&dat=19451003&id=UrdaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F1ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4027,5238099&hl=en.

“New Rasco Store Adds To Fine Merchant Services To This Community, RASCO Store Will Make Debut Here On Thursday.” Henderson [NV] Home News, 15 Nov. 1966, pp. 1–2, hendersonlibraries.sobeklibrary.com/HL00001577/00001/search?search=rasco.

“Gamble-Skogmo.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamble-Skogmo#F._S._Rasco_&_Company.

Vi-Co Chocolate Drink (between 1957 and 1969)

     What is Vi-Co?  That's chocolate milk in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Quebec!

Front

.The Saskatchewan Cooperative Creameries registered the trademark “Co-Op.” in 1925.  The trademark "Vi-Co" was used as early as 1939 and was registered in 1957 in Canada for chocolate drinks.  The back of the needlebook shows that the Vi-Co mark is registered dating this to 1957 or later

Back

In dating this needlebook, a useful piece of information is the history of the postal zoning system used in Toronto.  Toronto was renumbered to a three-digit code in 1969 with an alphanumeric postal code introduced in 1971.  This needlebook has the address of the Goodwill Advertising Products agency as "Toronto 5" on the inside.

Inside

“Canadian Trademarks Details.” Canadian Trademarks Details 0120435-0 - Canadian Trademarks Database - Intellectual Property and Copyright - Canadian Intellectual Property Office - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/viewTrademark.html?id=0120435-0&lang=eng&status=OK&fileNumber=0120435&extension=0&startingDocumentIndexOnPage=1.

“Canadian Trademarks Details.” Canadian Trademarks Details 0230777-0 - Canadian Trademarks Database - Intellectual Property and Copyright - Canadian Intellectual Property Office - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/viewTrademark.html?id=0230777-0&lang=eng&status=OK&fileNumber=0230777&extension=0&startingDocumentIndexOnPage=1.

Civilization.ca - A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1971ae.shtml.

House of Commons Debates, 28th Parliament, 1st ... - Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources, parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.debates_HOC2801_10/710?r=0&s=1.

Needlebooks Online! American Patchwork & Quilting

HappyHourStitches shared her Virginia Slims needlebooks passed down from her grandmother and gave us a peek at the great historic needlebooks from collector Martha Klatt in the February 2018 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. 



Klatt, Martha. “Collector's Corner: Needlebooks.” American Patchwork and Quilting, Feb. 2018, p. 104.