Sunday, April 28, 2013
What fascinated me in terms of this genre of toys (lithographed paper on wood), is the fact that they're still around in mostly good-excellent condition, after more than 100 years old! Also, I like the old style of design on some of the toys.
What I also like is the design of the "waves" on the side of the 2 ships that I presented today. I can't be 100% certain, but I would think that might be a company design that was used for all of their boats and ships. If you ever found one of these ships, you might be able to know that the Bliss Company had made it. That, my readers, just be be a future blog to write about. There was also another common characteristic to their ships as well - American flags from that era.
So that's my 401st post, and I hope to continue many more. I've mentioned that if anyone has any ideas for a post, or would like to be a guest,by all mean, please feel free to e-mail me.
I've posted late today, as I was busy adding fertilizer, lime, and peat moss to my lawn for the last 2 days. I'm the lawn-maintenance guy,while my wife tends to the flowers, grafted hydrangea trees, and our shaded hosta plants. Naturally, as things always happen, my wife was listening to a garden show on the radio, and the expert said that one should apply slow-release fertilizer (after I had just bough the regular fertilizer. So I go back and but the slow-release. The first 2 bags yesterday were OK,but today I bought another brand. My lawn smells like a pig farm! Even our retired neighbour - a gardener and landscaper asked my wife what I had put on the lawn. Hopefully the smell will go away from the sun, the wind, or the rain. I hope slow release doesn't also include that smell which will linger for the next month!
You just got to laugh it off sometime!
The R. Bliss Manufacturing Company
I found more toys that were made of lithographed paper on wood. As it turned out, the R. Bliss Manufacturing Company turns out to not only have lots of history that can easily be found, but it was one of the largest producers of those lithographed paper on wood toys through the late 1890's-early 1900's.
It also happened to have been located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island - the smallest state in the U.S. I studied my profession of photography in the capital of Rhode Island - Providence. The school was called the Rhode Island School of Photography, which I believe is no longer there.. The state may be the smallest,but its' people have the biggest hearts. It's small so it was easy to drive around and see the many different parts and cities.
There was a restaurant called Custy's that came back after being closed for many years .I took my parents, brother and sister there when they had come to visit me in 1971 or 1972. The restaurant was an all you can eat place which included lobster and shrimp. However, aside from excellent food, I always remember a sign at the entrance to the restaurant that was written something like this: "Please ladies, do not make us embarrass you by having to ask you to open up your purses". I assume, there were one too many lady diners who had attempted to pilfer those crustaceans by placing them in their purses. I'm sure their husbands were also in on the "grand theft".
Returning to the R.Bliss Manufacturing Company, the company had a great history, Among the things that they had made were wooden screws that you might have found on wooden clamps that you'd have seem when gluing large pieces of wood together. Among the other things that they are renowned for by antique collectors, is their finely-crwafted wood houses with lithographed paper on the outside.
What I also like is the design of the "waves" on the side of the 2 ships that I presented today. I can't be 100% certain, but I would think that might be a company design that was used for all of their boats and ships. If you ever found one of these ships, you might be able to know that the Bliss Company had made it. That, my readers, just be be a future blog to write about. There was also another common characteristic to their ships as well - American flags from that era.
So that's my 401st post, and I hope to continue many more. I've mentioned that if anyone has any ideas for a post, or would like to be a guest,by all mean, please feel free to e-mail me.
I've posted late today, as I was busy adding fertilizer, lime, and peat moss to my lawn for the last 2 days. I'm the lawn-maintenance guy,while my wife tends to the flowers, grafted hydrangea trees, and our shaded hosta plants. Naturally, as things always happen, my wife was listening to a garden show on the radio, and the expert said that one should apply slow-release fertilizer (after I had just bough the regular fertilizer. So I go back and but the slow-release. The first 2 bags yesterday were OK,but today I bought another brand. My lawn smells like a pig farm! Even our retired neighbour - a gardener and landscaper asked my wife what I had put on the lawn. Hopefully the smell will go away from the sun, the wind, or the rain. I hope slow release doesn't also include that smell which will linger for the next month!
You just got to laugh it off sometime!
Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
have a nice part of the day,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
