History Bound, LLC

Although several other German engineers were working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile.

A photograph of the original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept.

Here is a look at some automobiles through the years.

1905 Vauxhall

Franklin Sedan

1914 Winton Six

Buick Rumble Seat Coupe

1960 Ambassador super 4-Door Sedan

1968 Oldsmobile Delmont 88

1960s Karmann Ghia

1969 Dodge Charger

Calendars have been part of civilizations for thousands of years. Different calendars have been used at different times. One of the most common calendars used today is a solar calendar. Lunar calendars are used, but I am writing a blog and not a book so I am keeping this short. The solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun. This can be tricky; the solar year is not exactly 365 days long. It is closer to 365 solar days, 5 hours 49 minutes and some seconds.

The Gregorian calendar is considered the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, in 1582. The motivation for the Gregorian improvement was that the Julian calendar, named after Julius Caesar, was inaccurate and gained about three days every four centuries.

The improved calendar was adopted later that year by a handful of countries, with other countries adopting it over the following centuries.

OK, lesson over. At some point someone got the clever idea of adding illustrations to calendars. The calendar became art as well as functional. You can find a calendar theme on just about any subject you can imagine. Here is a look at some of the calendars we have found.

Original 1917 advertising calendar. Compliments of Mathew Hall - Lumber and Building Supplies. St. Cloud, Minnesota. Artwork is by Frank Stick - "Moose Call".

Original 1921 Advertising calendar. Compliments of: Mathew Hall - Lumber and Building Materials. Artwork is a great Philip R. Goodwin hunting scene.

Original 1918 advertising calendar. Compliments of Mathew Hall - Lumber and Building Materials. St. Cloud, Minnesota. Complete 1918 calendar.

Original WWI era calendar. January 1919 . Entitled: "The Battlefields". Poster shows Italian, American, German, French, Scottish and English soldiers all hailing the Maiden of the Battlefields. Complete 1919 calendar.

Original 1931 Boy Scouts of America Calendar. "Scout Memories". Painted by Norman Rockwell. In the scene Dan Beard is telling a story to a seated Scout. Complete monthly calendar plus a "Scout Record" of yearly activities is under the artwork.

Great 1962-1963 Hamm's Beer Sports calendar.

original 1919 advertising calendar. "Conquest of the Wilderness. Compliments of Mathew Hall - Lumber and building Materials. St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company large advertising calendar.

Fine unused 1963 calendar advertising Jim's Standard Service

1954 Advertising calendar from Moore's Food Market and Variety

Shorty's Texaco 1952 Calendar. Candor N.Y.

This is just a sample of the many items we have on our website.

We hope you enjoy looking through them as you explore the ever changing treasures within.

Baseball cards have been around since the 1800’s, but in the 1938 a new company was founded that’s name would become synonymous with Baseball cards.

1952 Topps

The Topps Company is the preeminent maker of sports cards. Topps makes sports cards for Major League Baseball, National Football League, English Premiere League, Indian Premiere League, and much more. As of 2010 Topps is the only remaining company licensed to produce baseball cards of MLB players.

In 1951, Topps produced its first baseball cards in two different sets known today as Red Backs and Blue Backs. Each set contained 52 cards, like a deck of playing cards, and in fact the cards could be used to play a game that would simulate the events of a baseball game.

Topps 1952 Baseball set

In 1952 Topps made an important change to baseball cards. They made a much larger (407 total) set of baseball cards and packaging them with its signature product, bubblegum. The company also changed the dimensions of the card to 2-3/4 inches by 3-5/8 inches with square corners. (This basic format is still the standard for most sports cards produced in the United States.) The cards now had a color portrait on one side, with statistical and biographical information on the other. This set became a landmark in the baseball card industry, and today the company considers this its first true baseball card set.

One of the features that contributed significantly to Topps’ success beginning with the 1952 set was providing player statistics. At the time, complete and reliable baseball statistics for all players were not widely available, so Topps actually compiled the information itself from published box scores.

Topps 1971 Baseball set

The most sought after baseball card set.

1971 Topps

This set was a landmark in terms of baseball card photography, as Topps for the first time included cards showing color photographs from actual games.

The cards themselves had been in color from the beginning, though for the first few years this was done by using artist’s portraits of players rather than actual photographs and until 1971, Topps used mostly portrait or posed shots.

The 1971 set was also an experiment in terms of putting photos on card backs. The 1971 set is also known for its jet black borders.

1971 Tops set

Topps 1972 Baseball set

This set had several great things about them.

197s Topps Art-Deco design

It was largest set of cards that had been made. The set included color photographs, which were used for special “In Action” cards of selected star players. These IA cards were in addition to their regular cards. The set also stands out for its artistic design, with its art-deco Peter Max-style graphics. It has been referred to as the “Magical Mystery Set” because of the hip design and a few photos of long-haired players.

Another nice feature of the set is the backs of #692, 694, 696, 700, 706 & 710 form a picture of Tom Seaver. The backs of #698, 702, 704, 708, 712, & 714 form a picture of Tony Oliva.

1972 Topps Baseball Card Set

An individual’s writing style can change throughout their life. The degree of change may vary greatly. After Admiral Nelson lost his right arm at the Tenerife sea-battle in 1797, he switched to using his left hand. The signatures of Washington and Lincoln changed only slightly during their adult lives, while John F. Kennedy’s signature was different almost every time he signed.

Original Leonard Bernstein autographed card.

Many individuals have much more fanciful signatures than their normal cursive writing, including elaborate ascenders, descenders and exotic flourishes, much as one would find in calligraphic writing.

Original 4"x6" autographed photo of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

As an example, the final “k” in John Hancock’s famous signature on the United States Declaration of Independence loops back to underline his name. This kind of flourish is also known as a paraph. John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence is so unique and well-known that the phrase “John Hancock” has become a synonym for “signature” in American English, and a prominent piece of American iconography.

Original 1961 Robert Kennedy autograph on a 3"x5" card.

Some of the most popular categories of autograph subjects are Presidents, military figures, sports, popular culture, artists, social and religious leaders, scientists, astronauts and authors.

Senator Ted Kennedy signed 8" x 10" photo.

Cartography is the study and practice of making geographical maps.

William Bleau World Map on Mercators projection

There is some debate about the earliest known map, because the definition of a “map” is not clear and because some artifacts believed to be maps might actually be something else.

Wonderful map of France.

A wall painting, which may depict the ancient Anatolian city of Catal Huyuk, has been dated to the late 7th millennium BC. Other known maps of the ancient world include the Minoan “House of the Admiral” wall painting from circa 1600 BC, shows a seaside community and an engraved map of the Babylonian city of Nippur.

1807 Carte Politique et Itineraire de L'Europe et L' Empire Francais en 1807. Produced by Hyacinthe Langlois.

Maps have changed over time. Much of the artistic flair have given away to function and have become more standardized for ease of use.

1874 Map of Cottonwood, Murray, Pipestone, Jackson, Nobles and Rock Counties, Minnesota. Large 17 x 27.5 map.

1929 Standard Oil road map of New York.

During the Victorian era, one of the favorite pastimes was collecting small, illustrated advertising cards that we now call trade cards. These trade cards evolved from cards of the late 1700s used by tradesmen to advertise their services.

Clark's Spool Cotton. Classic large trade card with 1895 complete calendar.

By the 1880s, trade cards had become a major way of advertising products and services, and a trip to the store usually brought back some of these attractive, brightly colored cards to be pasted into a scrapbook. They were issued by manufacturers of all kinds of products and were given away to potential customers. With the development of color printing trade cards began to be increasingly sophisticated in there designs. As the designs became more attractive and colorful, collecting Trade Cards became a popular hobby in the late 1800s.

VINTAGE VICTORIAN TRADE CARD. ADVERTISING COFFEE.

Caracas Sweet Chocolate. Walter Baker & Co. Dorchester, Mass.

Some manufacturers put out a series of Trade Cards on a particular subject, hoping to induce collectors to keep returning to the store in order to obtain a complete set. Some of the products most heavily advertised by trade cards were in the categories of: medicine, food, tobacco, clothing, household, sewing, stoves, and farm.

Wonderful set of 90 Arm & Hammer Bird Series Victorian Trade cards.

Great vintage Coca-Cola trade card. Produced by Wolf & Co. Philadelphia.

Some Trade Cards, particularly those produced by tobacco companies featuring baseball players, later developed into Sports Card collectibles and lost their function as a business advertisement.