If You're Selling, I'm Buying: A Sample Book Sampler

Front cover of Geo. H. Harrison & Sons. Latest Designs in Statue Series of Chocolate Box Tops. Leeds: Geo. H. Harrison & Sons, 1930

«If you have something to sell, it makes sense to let people sample your wares before buying. That's why gelato shops will hand you those tiny plastic scoops with a delicious dollop of gelato: they want you to know firsthand what an outstanding product you will be getting. Businesses have been giving out such samples for ages, sometimes as a bound book. Naturally, there weren't books for ice cream samples (that would be messy), but rather for things like wallpapers, textiles, and fabrics—anything that could be mounted more easily on paper. Salesmen could take these books to show door to door, and businesses mailed them directly to customers. Thomas J. Watson Library has a number of these sample books in our special collections, and here in this post are two of my all-time favorite sample books.»

The Leeds- and London-based printing company of Geo. H. Harrison & Sons prominently used an image of the Statue of Liberty for their "Statue Series" sample books (above). Inside our book there is an announcement for a new line of "art cartons for chocolates," and it includes the warning, "Do not destroy the catalogue." Fortunately for us and our readers, that admonishment was adhered to, so our copy remains pristine to this day.

Another interesting feature is that you can see the design numbers stamped in small print on each of our images.

Chocolate box top sample (no. 1623)

The photograph of this mesmerizing and gorgeous box top can do no justice to the way the gold of the rolling hills pops out on the embossed patterned paper. In this lush depiction of an idealized tropical paradise, light-greenish peacocks loiter with regal ease on a twisted bough surrounded by bushy pink blossoms and abstracted blue-green fronded plants dot the hillside.

Chocolate box top sample (no. 1600)

Giddy playfulness seems to exude from the image on this smooth wove paper: a wholesome smiling girl with chestnut-colored hair in a chic 1920s Marcel wave peeks out from what can only be described as a "floribundance" of pinkish roses, while a swath of leafy green vines seems to flow around the girl as if caught up in her own energized aura of good humor. Who wouldn't want to pluck a chocolate out of a box like that?

Front cover of Schumacher (Firm). Frank Lloyd Wright: A Collection of Wallcoverings, Companion Fabrics and Borders. New York: Schumacher, probably 1950

This is a truly portable sample book supplied with a solid plastic handle, so that the world-weary traveling salesman won't get a crick in his shoulder from toting around this hefty collection of dense wallpaper. These samples were all inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The firm of F. Schumacher and Co. was established in New York, in 1889, by Frederic Schumacher and has been wowing its patron base with bold products for interior design ever since. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has in its collection several of those Schumacher products designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, such as a silk and rayon textile fabric, a woven rayon and cotton curtain, and a cotton curtain with a printed design. Our volume touts that "the archives at Taliesin West, Wright's winter headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, have inspired the collection shown here."

Coonley Playhouse (no. 50061) wallpaper sample with the Coonley Playhouse border (no. 500631) placed on top

This brightly colored and geometrically patterned sample was based on stained-glass windows made for the Avery Coonley House, which was constructed between 1908 and 1912. You can see examples of the stained-glass windows from the Coonley House on view here in gallery 707. In this wallpaper sample, the colors have been muted to what the text dubs as an "earthtone," but the design itself is still startling in terms of its linearity and complexity.

Design 102 (no. 500513) wallpaper sample with companion fabric (no. 16W0023)

The "Design 102" sample, based on the reflected ceiling plan for the Joseph Euchtman House located in Baltimore, Maryland, is my personal favorite of the Schumacher samples. The colors described by the book as "amethyst and sand" seem to blend so well together and exude both a warmth and a non-grating vitality, which, to me, are the hallmarks of Frank Lloyd Wright's best work. Looking at (and, I confess, even touching) the companion linen and cotton-blend fabric piece, I can envision myself sighing as I sink into a cushy armchair made of this fabric.

The samples in these two books epitomize the value of sample books to business owners: they brought the touch, feel, and vitality of the products into the hands of potential buyers. For us, as librarians and researchers, they bring to life a distant time and place in a very tactile and visual manner that cannot be completely reproduced by merely reading about, nor by seeing illustrations of, these products. So stop by Watson Library and step into the past by looking at some sample books.

Related Link
In Circulation: "Lamps, Slippers, Trumpets, and More: Recently Digitized Trade Catalogs" (January 7, 2015)