Now, Good Digestion Wait on Appetite,
And Health on Both

by

Laine Farley

The elements of this bookmark are somewhat incongruous—pink satin ribbon and bows, large flowers, a mysterious symbol on the side, and a quote from Shakespeare’s Macbeth about good digestion, appetite and health. Leave it to the Victorians to take something that could be dark, if not sinister, and ornament it with gewgaws. Something about it intrigued me, though, and the fact that it had publisher information was promising.

The quote itself is fairly popular if not the most well-known or felicitous Shakespearean quip. I found examples of its use on menus, in ads for products as diverse as Cockle’s Pills for indigestion in 1911 and Foster’s Lager in 1931, and even adorning a book on “Good Food Habits for Children” in 1929.

Ultimately, the most interesting thing about this bookmark is its publisher, Baldwin & Gleason, and especially Mr. Baldwin.

The antiques and collecting source, Kovel’s Komments, replied to a question on 25 Feb., 2009 with this information: “Baldwin & Gleason Co., Ltd. was a manufacturer of political and advertising buttons, lapel studs, and novelty items in the late 1800s. The company was located in New York City. Although we don’t know the history of the company, we’ve seen campaign items from 1862 to 1900 offered for sale.”  Ted Hake, author of Collectible Pin-Back Buttons 1896-1986, elaborates: “Celluloid was first used in a presidential campaign in 1876, but sparingly. By the campaign of 1888, celluloid lapel studs picturing candidates Harrison, Cleveland and Fisk were introduced by Baldwin & Gleason Co., Ltd., an early New York City novelty firm." On Hake’s auction site, there are examples of these lapel studs and he notes that the company was one of the first to patent the use of celluloid.

A great example of other campaign advertising is an advertisement from Judge’s Library: A monthly magazine of fun, October 1900, featuring campaign buttons with a dinner pail and “Four more years of the full dinner pail” with McKinley and Roosevelt.

While their campaign advertising is very collectible and well-documented, they also made other “novelties” that receive occasional mention. One example is from American Bookseller, v. 13, n. 15, 1882, p. 419: “Messrs Baldwin & Gleason, of this city, send us handsome samples of steel-plate, card-board covers suitable for inclosing [sic] small pamphlets or for the printing of a circular on inside pages. In design and execution, these are as fine as any shown.” Their reputation extended abroad as evidenced by this report from The British Printer, v1, 1888, p. 27: “A beautifully engraved new business card from Messrs Berger and Wirth, Leipzig is exquisitely printed on thin celluloid plates, both the printing and engraving by the Baldwin & Gleason Co., Limited of New York. The printing is executed by a special process patented by the company, and the celluloid plates—cards they can scarcely be called—bear a close resemblance to Messrs. Strain & Sons’ “ivorine.”

A broadside that may have been part of a larger item,  possibly one of the “card-board covers” mentioned above, has an extensive list of their wares ranging from bank notes, to wedding announcements to hat tips and tobacco labels. It also features “every variety of book illustrations” as a specialty and “railway printing of all descriptions.” This undated document does not mention celluloid although the font suggests it would have been printed during the period when celluloid was still popular.

In the catalog of the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1889 v. 1, ,p 302, they are listed as “Baldwin & Gleason Co., limited, 61 Broadway, New York, NY, novelties printed from steel, engraved plates on celluloid and other materials.” Later in the Reports of the United States commissioners to the Universal exposition of 1889 at Paris, 1891, p. 161 their exhibit was described as “interesting because it illustrates one of the uses to which celluloid has been applied although the ‘engravings have, as will be noticed, an interest of their own.’ ” It’s possible that some of their work from the Exposition formed the “collection of printings on celluloid” they donated to the graphic arts collection listed in the  Report on Progress of the U.S. National Museum, 1891, Appendix A. I was not able to find a description of this collection in the Smithsonian’s catalog, however.

The Smithsonian does have two examples of their work including a celluloid game counter and a letter opener advertising Atlee Burpee in the shape of a pea pod. The New York Public Library has three examples of their engravings of buildings, probably dating from the late 1890s. I found a curious and charming illustration of a girl knitting with a dog watching, on a 5x7" sheet of celluloid with holes at the top and bottom—purpose unknown. An example of a souvenir menu booklet from the Prudential House Warming, 1892, Newark, NJ has a similar font to my bookmark, suggesting it was done during the same period. I have seen one other bookmark for sale on eBay featuring a heart shape with an image of a little girl. Another heart-shaped example features an ad for the Lambie Dictionary Holder, an interesting combination of bookcase and stand, offered by Arthur Dixwell in Boston and dated 1900.

There is more to be found about the history of the company, but the timeline is not totally clear. The company is listed in various trade directories at different locations in New York during the 1880s-1900s. The location at Reade St. achieved some notoriety as a result of a fire that occurred on 22 Dec. 1901. According to the Annual report of Committee on Fire Patrol, NY, 1902 the fire broke out at 22, 24, 26 Reade St., a five story brick and stone building. The New York Times article on 23 Dec 1901 proclaimed “Perfume-Laden Smoke Chokes Fire Fighters; Five Also Badly Hurt at Fierce Blaze on Reade Street. Exploding Celluloid Spreads the Flames Which Burn Out a Five-Story Building and Damage Adjacent Property.” Although the fire began in the basement, it quickly reached upper floors through vertical belt shafts. When it reached Baldwin & Gleason’s celluloid inventory, it set off explosions that sounded like “the bursting of big firecrackers, but were not of sufficient force to endanger the firemen and others inside the danger lines.” Celluloid’s propensity to ignite was one reason it fell out of favor in the coming years. Later the fire reached the offices of Theodore Ricksecker, credited as the first perfumier in the U.S., and “the odor of perfumes could be discerned all the way down the block, and the firemen said afterward that ordinary smoke was nothing by comparison to that laden with the sickening smell of musk or even of high-priced colognes.” A long blog post describes the occupants of the building with sample ads for many of them, including examples of Baldwin & Gleason pins, as well as maps showing the original location of the building.

The good news is that the building and presumably its occupants were adequately insured according to the Fire Patrol. An advertisement in the World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1903 proves that Baldwin & Gleason was still in business at a different location, 18 to 28 Thames St., NY,  selling “Advertising Novelties (Celluloid), Signs, Buttons and Campaign Badges” as before.

What can be discovered about the founders of the company? A beautiful but undated trade card lists M. W. Baldwin as president and T. J. Gleason as secretary and treasurer. A little more information emerges in an article titled “Did Baldwin’s Art Illuminate” in Numismatist, v. 111, 1998: “Organized by engraver Marcus W. Baldwin and designer Thomas Gleason, Baldwin & Gleason functioned as a security-engraving firm from about 1880 to 1891.” A snippet from the American Philatelist, v 75, 1962-3 (?), p. 753 on “Baldwin, Marcus Wickliffe, portrait and pictorial engraver” states that “In 1880, he went into business with Thomas J. Gleason as Baldwin & Gleason, 7, Warren St., New York City. Robert Savage was employed by them. He relinquished his partnership early in 1891 and took a vacation in Bermuda.” It’s not clear whether the vacationer was Savage or Baldwin although other evidence suggests Baldwin did leave the company in 1891.

Other men headed the company after his departure. There is a clue in the Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900, p. 497 indicating that Julius F. Toussaint was president and director of Baldwin & Gleason, New York. A letter from the company dated 1896 has letterhead listing Toussaint as president, so he was there at least from that date until 1900. Another clue comes from A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record OF Branch County, Michican By Rev. Henry P. Collin, 1906, which mentions that A. T. McCarger had been president and treasurer at Baldwin & Gleason but doesn’t provide dates.

Baldwin’s partner, Thomas Jay Gleason, formed his own company, and according to Henry F. Hain, a seller of collectibles, he produced pinbacks and other novelties in New York and Brooklyn during the 1890s and as late as 1912. An interview with Gleason in the American Stationer, v. 30, 2 Jul 1891, p. 21 provided an explanation of sorts for his resignation and the departure of Baldwin from the company, saying that there was no pressure on them except from themselves. He goes on to say that there had been “friction for some little time as to some matters, and finally we resigned.” He stated that one line of the business, Christmas fancy goods, had not been profitable and was discontinued, but that did not seem to be the cause of their departure. He ends by saying that he had started his own business to “manufacture goods of about the same general character.”

In the Office, v. 10-12, Sep 1891, p. 194, there is a description of various celluloid novelties produced by “Thos. Jay Gleason, manufacturer of art novelties,” including an office memorandum tablet, a postage stamp holder, a game counter, and a “combined rule and paper cutter.” Various other novelties are listed as part of his offerings.

All was not well after he left Baldwin & Gleason, however. The American Stationer, v. 34, 7 Sep 1893, p. 465 reports a scandal wherein a clerk employed by Baldwin & Gleason was arrested for obtaining letters addressed to Gleason from one of his employees. Gleason had resigned from Baldwin & Gleason and formed a similar business at 112 Liberty Street in New York. The purloined letters were used to obtain designs and pricing information, allowing Baldwin & Gleason to undercut Gleason’s business.

I found a listing in the American Newspaper Directory, 1897, p. 667, for Thos. Jay Gleason as editor and publisher of Arthur’s Home Magazine in New York. An ad for the magazine appeared in The Spirit of ’76, 1896, v. 3, p. 619, saying that “It’s old in years . . . but up-to-date in matter,” listing his name and address for a free copy. Was this the same Gleason? I could not locate anything else about him, although I suspect a more diligent search could turn up more of his story.

Baldwin went on to a different career, or rather returned to his original line of work. A more complete picture of Baldwin’s career appears in this summary from a currency collectors’ site quoting from Gene Hessler’s book, The Engravers Line:

M.W. Baldwin was born in Irvington, NJ. in 1853 and died in NYC in 1925. He was apprenticed at the American BNCo [Bank Note Company] under Louis Delnoce and Alfred Jones and studied evenings at the National Academy of Design. In 1869 Baldwin was with the National BNCo and remained after consolidation with the American BNCo in 1878. Two years later he formed Baldwin, Gleason & Co in NYC. From 1891 Baldwin engraved privately and continued to do so after he joined the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on the 5th of Jan.1897. He retired from the BEP on Aug. 20, 1920 and returned to the American BNCo on May 4th. 1921. His first work at the BEP was the non-portrait engraving on the ticket for the Presidential Inaugural Ball. In 1897 he retouched the controversial educational notes $(sky), $2(female head) & the $5 (leaves); notes with these changes were not issued. At the BEP, Baldwin executed every type of engraving. He engraved the backs for the $20(H848) and $50 (H1044) Federal Reserve notes of 1914 in only 20 working days. Postage stamp engravings outnumbered his bank note engravings. He also engraved Military Payment Certificates, & Foreign Bank Notes.

Although a great deal has been written about his career as a master engraver in recent years, there are not many contemporary descriptions of his work. Because I don’t have ready access to most of these recent sources, I could only glean a few details from snippets. Some samples of his work from 1898 include an engraving of an American eagle, and a farm scene for a stamp.

In addition to the above information about his career, Artists of Washington DC, 1995 says he was an engraver active in Washington, DC 1904-1920, during the latter year as president of the W. J. Bowman Company. He was employed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing during 1904-1905.  In the Washington, DC City Directory for 1919, he is listed as the president of the Rebuilt Typewriter Company and president of W. J. Bowman Company in 1920. Although his affiliation with a typewriter company seems unlikely, I could not find any further information about the Bowman company.

It was possible to discover quite a bit about his family because he applied to be a Son of the American Revolution. His parents were Wickliffe and Abbey Baldwin. He was living with them in 1880 and by 1900 was in Washington, DC. Curiously, he was listed in Newark, NJ city directories from 1877-1898 as an engraver on Clinton Avenue. Perhaps this is where he located his independent engraving work, even after he began Baldwin & Gleason in New York in 1880. Apparently he never married, and lived with his cousins in Washington in 1910-1920.

He applied for a passport in 1908 (and returned from Londonderry that year) and 1913 (and returned from Liverpool that year). His occupation was listed as steel picture engraver or vignette engraver; his physical description included his height at 5’ 8” with brown eyes, gray hair and a long face. Two sources provide a portrait of him, consistent with this description. An engraved vignette shows him at about the age he would have been when he took his overseas trips.

The second is a photograph of him as an older man on p. 3 of an article by Daniel A. Piazza, 2009, on “How the 1909 Stamp Was Born” about the commemorative stamp he designed and engraved, celebrating Henry Hudson’s navigation of the Hudson River and Robert Fulton’s steamboat service from New York to Albany.

Marcus Baldwin died on 25 July 1925 in Mount Vernon, NY and was buried in Clinton cemetery in Irvington, NJ. There were only simple notices of his death in the New York Times and the Washington Post, with little indication of his career, describing him only as a bank note engraver.

I was disappointed not to find more about how my bookmark might have been part of the company’s offerings. It has a number “331” indicating it might have been part of a series, but none if its siblings were in evidence, and its theme, design and graphics were not found in other products. The company’s history contains gaps to explain the changes in leadership, and more information about Mr. Baldwin’s talents are locked away in publications that will take time and effort to obtain. Although this investigation raised more questions than it answered, it was still fascinating to discover a little about this company and its founder who contributed excellent work to the official representation of our country through currency and stamps.

Bookmark Specifications: “Now good digestion wait on appetite and health on both”
Dimensions: 3 1/8 x 7 1/2”
Material: Celluloid and ribbon
Manufacturer: Baldwin & Gleason
Date: 1880s
Acquired: eBay

Laine Farley is a digital librarian who misses being around the look, feel and smell of real books.  Her collection of over 3,000 bookmarks began with a serendipitous find while reviewing books donated to the library. Fortunately, her complementary collection of articles and books about bookmarks provides an excuse for her to get back to libraries and try her hand at writing about bookmarks. Contact Laine.