The Alco File of Clothing Facts. Spring and Summer 1903. Arnold, Louchh. Alco System Clothes. eim & Co. 1021-1023 Filbert St. Philadelphia. [Together with] The Practical Way to Sell....
- Box: Quarter Black Leatherette. Red pebbled paper pastedown on boards. Accompanying booklet: cloth spine, boards with pebbled pa
- Philadelphia: Arnold, Louchheim & Co, 1902
Philadelphia: Arnold, Louchheim & Co, 1902. Box: Quarter Black Leatherette. Red pebbled paper pastedown on boards. Accompanying booklet: cloth spine, boards with pebbled paper pastedown. Very Good. A most unusual promotion and catalogue from a Philadelphia-based manufacturer and retailer of men's wear in the early 20th Century. The primary piece of this two item sales package is, as its title suggests, a file box such as one commonly encounters in more generic form up to today, or at least up to the time before virtual storage supplanted hard copy storage, with promotional sheets housed within, with ample room for new sheets to be added over time, the sheets kept in place with a single metal rod running through small holes in the center of the vertical left margin of the sheets. On the right margin are lettered tabs, 15 in all, with some tabs containing two or three letters (E and F are on one tab, for instance). The box measures 31 by 29 cm and is almost 8 cm deep. and it contains 17 glossy sheets, which we assume again is how it was issued, and including the glossy sheets with tabs attached. The sheets are printed on their rectos only. Six of these sheets are fashion plates, all with drawn illustration of broad-shouldered, muscular young men, with proportions more akin to today's ideal than the leaner models that were the norm for much of the 20th century. Each of these models is showing off one of the company's styles of the time, styles that it dubbed such names as "The Malcolm" and "The Warmday". The final sheet contains four swatches, and ten sheets have textual sales promotion material, as does the inside front flap and the side flap of the box. Much of the printing, both of the box interior and its contents, are in blue, with touches of red and metallic gold and silver highlighting, this highlighting conforming to the Art Nouveau style then at its zenith. The sides of the box have the faux marbled paper typical of generic file boxes of this type. The box is secured by a brass clasp on its side. The oldest part of the company, Arnold, Louchheim, was founded in 1866, and through a soimewhat tortuous history including an early bankruptcy and then the joining of forces between two families, remained in business until 1930. "ALCO", its brand, is a clever acronym of its principals' names plus "Company". The company clearly had considerable success and market presence, with showrooms or stores at the time of our items in New York, Chicago and Baltimore as well as its home base of Philadephia. And apparently there is a "ghost sign" of the company still visible on the side of a building in Philadelphia. The second item in the package, the booklet, is of folio size, measuring 31.5 by 20.5 cm. Unpaginated, it contains 30 glossy sheets, all with perforation so they can be removed, and printed solely on their rectos. All but five of these leaves contain one or two illustrations, mostly of similar he-men, but here they are not showcasing particular styles the company was promoting at the time. Condition: The box remains structurally sound but does have soiling and stains. The edges are rubbed with the paper pastedowns slightly raw looking. The clasp is a bit tricky to work, requiring the side to be pushed in just so. The sheets have a moderate amount of soiling, a good amount of which we are confident can be erased with the right eraser and elbow grease, if it matters. The booklet is loosely-speaking, in similar condition. Two of the sheets within have narrow chunks lost along the top edge, not affecting the content. Several other sheets with surface abrasions, with only one of those with more numerous abrasion spots, and even with this one none of the printed material has become illegible. The soiling on these sheets and the binding can be cleaned up to a fair degree with elbow grease. The binding edges show wear similar to the box's edges. Overall, we are comfortable grading the package as Very Good.
Details
Title
The Alco File of Clothing Facts. Spring and Summer 1903. Arnold, Louchh. Alco System Clothes. eim & Co. 1021-1023 Filbert St. Philadelphia. [Together with] The Practical Way to Sell....
Binding
Box: Quarter Black Leatherette. Red pebbled paper pastedown on boards. Accompanying booklet: cloth spine, boards with pebbled pa
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
Arnold, Louchheim & Co: Philadelphia
Date
1902