Ella Harris nineteenth-century American scrapbook

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0093-Item 0030

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

This nineteenth-century American children's scrapbook bears the inscription "To Ella, Much Love from Edith and Edna." The scrapbook features trade cards; Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, and New Year's greeting cards; collected images of flowers, animals, and children; and one printed-on-silk program for "Nunnemacher's Grand Opera" featuring a performance of Martha by the Milwaukee Philharmonic Society. The cover of this album features the word "Album" on the spine and a Victorian art print of a young girl holding a book while standing in a wooded clearing, showing a steeple in the background.

A handwritten essay titled "The Mowers" offers a thorough description of two pictures located in the creator's mother's room. The four-page essay is signed by Ella Harris and dated "June 9/91." Among notable images in the album is an original pencil of a lady peering over a fan, with the message "Regrets of Dr. H.L. Day." Next to this image is a calling card with New Year's greetings on a tiny card in an envelope from Mrs. C.F. Stone, Minneapolis. Other trade cards include numerous ones for White sewing machines, as well as Newman Bros. organs, Wheelock pianos, Gunther's candy from Chicago, and Griswold corsets. Two hand-made paper dolls are included in this scrapbook. They are dressed in white felted and chenille-trimmed coats and hats with white pleated skirts. A curious series of five trade cards, each with the inscription "Do you live in a castle?" consists of photographs depicting babies and toddlers emerging from large eggshells in nest-like settings.

Dates

Creation: approximately 1875-1895

Creator

Harris, Ella, active 1875-1895 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

Biographical Note

This scrapbook was presented to "Ella" from Edith and Edna. A manuscript essay on "The Mowers," which describes two pictures in her mother's room, is signed and dated "Ella Harris, June 9, [18]91" and other album content suggests that Ella Harris was from Wisconsin.

Biographical information derived from collection.