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page 86 -- Garland Stoves & Ranges, C.I. Hood & Co., Fish Brothers & Co.

updated 17 December 2018
Garland Stoves badge at top with Hood's Book of Wit & Humor cover center and Fish Brothers logo below
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large corporate name in white print over white-veined rainbow-colored leaf (Green, Purple, Red, Gold from left to right)
Did you know Detroit, MI was once the stove capital of the world?
The Detroit Historical Society wants you to know.
 perhaps a US President, caption on photo is "The People's Choice"

Michigan Stove Company, publisher; caption link is to v.2 no.6 (not dated)
Victorian stove fans! This is your publication.
As of 2015, Garland stoves have earned a reputation as a high-quality brand of commercial stove with international sales. Their current site is the WebstaurantStore.

left: child standing on branch reading book, right: smiling old man seated cross-legged reading to girl with top hat and boy with cane raised in triumphant manner

For a comprehensive look at the history of Lowell MA's C.I. Hood & Co. see the post and comments section of the Old Main Artifacts site devoted to Hood's Sarsaparilla.

The Old Main Artifacts project itself is worth a look. The post featuring Hood's Sarsaparilla grew out of Jessica Griffin's research for her thesis,  In the Shadow of Old Main: Campus Life, Consumer Choice and Foodways at Illinois State Normal University from 1860 to 1932.

What's the connection between Lowell, MA and the University of Illinois? The glass bottles in which C.I. Hood's products were distributed. 

The Arnold Collection has added another Hood card that has an interesting story behind it. Below is the image, which evidently was taken from an original watercolor. We haven't tracked the original artist down yet. Can you help?

Blond-haired girl wearing brown hat with flowers in foreground
"Wild Rose" #Victorians_In_Hats

Hood's user's testimony from Binghamton and Brooklyn NY, " I gave them Hood's Sarsaparilla and now their faces are as smooth and bright as those of any children in Broome County."

C.I. Hood sold a variety of products. Here's another (front & back, framing added):

Torso of brown-haired girl in blue dress trimmed with white wearing white cap

Claim is: "Biliousness, sour stomach, headache, jaundice and liver complaint are cured by Hood's Vegetable Pills...

The cutout below is from a trade card advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla:

Blond girl facing left in white hat with pink flowers and blue bow

Recently acquired by the Earl J. Arnold Advertising Card Collection is this 1896 calendar, which was not in the original scrapbook:

gold-framed illustration of brunette facing right with tan scarf

Hood's Sarsaparilla Calendar for 1896 notations of astronomical events

C.I. Hood also published booklets promoting Hood's Sarsaparilla. Below is a fragment of one of these booklets in the shape of a pansy. One cover and perhaps a page or two is missing. We don't know whether the pansy was the front or the back cover. Click the images to enlarge.

Text on Pansy is "Hood'sSarsaparilla, Peculiar to Itself, Makes the Weak Strong, Prepared by C.I. Hood & Co., Lowell MA, 100 Doses One Dollar

promotional text on left page, "Hood's Sarsaparilla Peculiar to Itself. 100 Doses One Dollar" on the right page

3 Children crawling on left page, text on right page

sales text with the admonition "Be Sure to Get Hood's"

Continuing a flowery theme, Hood's tried to print some silver letters on a water lily--without much success. The lettering, which is nearly invisible on the leaf bases, reads "Take Hood's Sarsaparilla. 100 doses One Dollar."

marshy landsape painted on water lily advertising Hood's Sarsaparilla

"Take Hood's Sarsaparilla, 100 Doses One Dollar"
My scanner did not pick up the lettering. This is from the original eBay listing.
eBay item number:112284767366  indian7248 
advertising text for Hood's Sarsaparilla
(reverse of card above)
C.I. Hood & Co. also published a recipe booklet:
Hood's Book of Home-Made Candies is choc full of advertising. Ingredient lists are absent and recipe lists are presented in prose. [ http://bit.ly/HomeMadeCandies ] Up for a challenge? See images for a sample. The PDF is free for you to download, share and print. Here are some images from the booklet:

Close-up of curley-headed girl with smile pulling on toffee-like red candy
First panel: well-fed, strong man, second panel: weak man at dinner table with "ruined health" and "dread dyspepsia"
3rd panel: friend recommends Hood's, 4th panel: man recovered with good-looking wife contemplating a Hood's Cookbook

"Very Fine Corn Balls" recipe from Hood's Cookbook
Add caption

Hood's Sarsaparilla advertising trade card: "First Lesson"
One of Hood's most famous cards was recently added to the Earl J. Arnold Advertising Card Collection 1885. This did not appear in the original scrapbook.
Hood's Sarsaparilla advertised as cure for Catarrh, 2 paragraphs of text
The reverse of the card above reflects the state of medical knowledge in the late 1800s.
According to page 120 of Street, John Phillips. The Composition of Certain Patent And Proprietary Medicines. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1917, the composition of Hood's Sarsaparilla as of that time was:

contains 15.6 to 18.8% alcohol by volume;solids, ash, potassium iodid, glycerin, emodin,gentian, podophyllum, sarsaparilla & other vegetable drugs...,

Hood's was not the only Sarsaparilla on the market at the time. Ayer's (Arnold Collection, pages  29,  95) made a similar product. In 2015, it is marketed as a soft drink internationally, but has not made any great penetration into the U.S. market. Root Beer is a close relative according to Wikipedia. Both Ayer's and Hood's products were produced in Lowell MA.

Meanwhile, back in Lowell, MA, in 2012 it appears as though the Hood's building could use some restoration. As captured by Google Street View, while worn, the building still gives away its origins...

Google street view captures old white lettering on brick exterior of Hood's factory, Lowell MA
Sign advertises Hood's Tooth Powder
"Hood's and only Hood's" slogan painted in white on red brick chimney, Hood's factory, Lowell MA
Faded glory (all photos: Google Street View)
Google Street View shows parking lot, chimney and red brick facade of C.I. Hood's Laboratory (factory)
July 2012
postcard showing lab, chimney in early 20th century
"Made by Hood. It's Good." Hood Lab in the early 20th century. (Postcard, publisher unknown)
In November of 2016 a sign on the property told passersby to "Expect Change:"

Sign in C.I. Hood's parking lot announcing renovation of building, courtesy Google Street View
Note the absence of the historic chimney with the Hood's logo.
A slideshow features photos of the historic transformation of this landmark Lowell site:
[ http://bit.ly/HoodToThorndikeRenovation ] Display time for each slide is 10 seconds.

Here's Lupeli Companies' promotional site Thorndike Exchange

Blond girl wearing red cape and black hunting cap surrounded by 7 hounds

sample text: "I had scrofulous sores that ran all the time. I took six bottles of Hood's Sarsaparilla, and they are gone. Mrs. Louisa Corson (76 years old), Bridgton ME"


Of course, you didn't expect this to end without a real "fish" story, did you? As a special treat, there's a little "bull" in it, too. (As with most fish stories, it gets longer with every telling. I didn't have the patience to read the whole case, having lost my way early on amonst all the Fishs, the Bulls and well, all the rest.)

"Fish Bros. & Co., Racine WI, Make the Best Wagon on Wheels" reads the white print on this graduated tint dark blue (top) to orange and yellow fish (belly), facing left
1215 State St., Racine WI
Google Street View captures the Fish Bros. plant in July 2017:

tan brick building with arched entrance and large arched windows on first floor

According to Racine History,

"Located on the south side of State Street (the present site of Merchant’s Delivery), the Fish Wagon Works encompassed ten acres. Sheds for drying, curing, and storing the hardwood lumber which arrived at the company’s wharf and docks sat alongside offices and shops."
Below is a Google Earth view of the Fish Brothers site in 2018:

Google Earth view of Fish Brothers Factory site with few original structures


Google Books relates a Fish & Bull story:
.


"It appears from the record that in 1863 the defendant Titus G. Fish and one Bull, under the name of Fish & Bull, commenced the business of manufacturing wagons in the city of Racine..."

Here I fell asleep. But you can read the rest, perhaps without the embarrassment snoozing in the middle of it, here.



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