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Historical background information for varieties handed down from bygone days.

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Old March 9, 2010   #16
remy
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Craig,
I love beans besides tomatoes so that would be nice. I also was surprised to see striped Pansies! They must of been popular back then. Maybe another flower or two that seemed to be the "in" thing back then.
Thanks!
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Old March 9, 2010   #17
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Ah yes, I see now ........ agree, plant would have been the icing
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Old March 9, 2010   #18
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If only they were in color as well, Denise! One thing that has frustrated me about many of the tomato descriptions in the really old seed catalog is the scarcity of adjectives - color, size, flavor, shape - it is all pretty general and pretty brief....though it didn't take long for the opposite to happen - descriptions that made every tomato offered sound like the most wonderful variety in existence (ah, the joy of marketing!).

Now that I have one from the 1870's, I wonder if I can get lucky some day and find one from the 1860s???

Wouldn't it be something if the variety "Hugh's", maintained by Archie Hook in Indiana from the 1940s, was a descendant of or relation to the variety Persian, as described in this catalog?

One other thing interesting - there are all of 3 eggplant listed (one of which is New York Improved - a variety I grow regularly, and it looks just like their illustration!), and they describe one as having purple and white stripes - so Listada di Gandia, available today, may in fact be quite an old variety.
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Old March 10, 2010   #19
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Craig,

Congratulations! What a great find! I'm happy for you. And I'm not envious at all, okay well I a little. All of my old catalogs are post 1900. But, they're still interesting to me.

Randy
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Old March 10, 2010   #20
nctomatoman
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Randy, thanks - it is certainly easier to find catalogs in the 1920 forward range - with some between 1900-1920 on occasion. As you mention, irrespective of the age, they are fascinating - and paint a nice picture of how gardening has evolved in the US.
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Old March 10, 2010   #21
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To those hoping for more pics - I hope to get a few more pages of interest photographed and posted within the next few days - I am thinking a few types of flowers (aster, marigold, pansy, petunia, zinnia all look interesting), plus beans, lettuce, peppers and melons.
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Old March 12, 2010   #22
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Craig, that is a wonderful find! Is that a LEATHER cover? I can't believe it's in such good shape. How did everybody else miss it - did the seller misspell something in the posting? That's how a guy I know got a very rare cookbook on eBay.
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Old March 12, 2010   #23
nctomatoman
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Not the best pics, but here are some more. I will try to replace them with better ones when I get a chance. If you click once you get the pic - click again and it enlarges.
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Old March 12, 2010   #24
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$4 for one Gladiolus bulb wonder what that would equate to in today's dollars ......
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Old March 15, 2010   #25
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Thanks Craig! I loved looking at them. I'm sure I'll be back to look again too. There were some unusual flowers in that catalog.
Thanks again,
Remy
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Old March 31, 2010   #26
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What a Wonderful find! Thanks for sharing the pics.
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Old April 5, 2010   #27
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What a great find.
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Old April 5, 2010   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nctomatoman View Post
I got lucky - the auction ended during work day and I was between meetings, so could swipe in and get it (but no, it wasn't cheap!). Very nice, in a leather binding, excellent condition.

It arrived today, I've been thumbing carefully through it. There are far more tomatoes listed than I expected for 1871. Listed 23 tomatoes and one ground cherry (I assume). They are as follows:

Early Smooth Red
Hubbard's Curled Leaf
General Grant
Hathaway's Excelsior
Keyes' Early Prolific
Trophy
Eureka
Orangefield (aka Sim's Cluster)
Dwarf Orangefield
Lyman's Mammoth Cluster -described as large pinkish red that grows in clusters
Alger
Golden Striped - simple description of red and yellow stripes
Cedar Hill
Tilden
Lester's Perfected - described as large, few seeds and late, and pink - this is likely an early "version" of Ponderosa
Persian - described as very large creamy yellow - I've also seen it described elsewhere as nearly white....think "Hugh's" I suppose in appearance.
Large Yellow
Large Smooth Red
Fejee
Pear Shaped
Plum Shaped Yellow
Yellow Cherry
Red Cherry
Winter Cherry

I took some pics - see below.

WHAT?!?!

NO Goose Creek???

(LOL)
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Old April 5, 2010   #29
nctomatoman
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Good one, Mark!
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