1885 – Broadside advertising sleighs, along with a handbill advertising harnesses, enclosed in a postally used envelope that features an all-over illustration of the factory that made them

Item Details

Burlington, New Jersey, J. H. Birch, 1885

Very Good

This lot consists of a large 12” x 19” broadside and a 6” x 9” handbill enclosed in a postally used illustrated advertising mailing envelope from J. H. Birch, a Burlington, New Jersey sleigh and carriage manufacturer. The envelope was sent to a prospective customer in Union City, Pennsylvania. It bears an ultramarine 1-cent Franklin stamp, the cost to mail advertising circulars. In nice shape. Mailing folds to the broadside and handbill. 1” split beginning at the end of one of the broadside’s storage folds. In nice shape.

The broadside shows five different sleigh models, each priced and described. The sleighs sold from $22 to $50 each. It also displays an image of two railroad trains in front of the company factory.

The handbill features an illustration of a horse in harness with blinders.

The illustrated advertising cover features an all-over illustration of the company's factory.

James Birch opened a carriage repair shop in Burlington in 1862, but soon switched over to building them instead. He provided quality carriages at modest prices, and his business thrived. By 1867, he had opened a large factory and had begun to produce sleighs as well. In 1881, he expanded the factory into a three-story brick complex shown in the lot and entered the international market, building rickshaws for Japan and farm carts for Korea.  

Birch became quite wealthy and built a mansion in town as well as an opera house for the city that attracted top-flight entertainers like Buffalo Bill Cody and The Four Cohans.

(For more information, see Shermerhorn’s The History of Burlington, New Jersey.)

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