19th Century Business Card from the Portland Stoneware Company in Portland, Maine

In a post from earlier today, I wrote about the Portland Stoneware Company in Portland, Maine; this is a circa 1885 business card from that company that I just purchased. Interestingly, it is also very similar to another business card I recently acquired from Charles A. Lawrence's pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts from about the same time period. The design similarities may reveal the relationship the C.A. Lawrence Pottery established with the Portland Stoneware Company, since Lawrence is known to have been a broker for Portland sewer pipe in the 1880s and 1890s.

Nonetheless, this is only the second business card that I have ever seen from the Portland Stoneware Company, with the other card being owned by Historic New England today.

The card reads on the front, "Portland Stone Ware Corporation / Manufactures of / Art and Horticultural Terra Cotta, Garden and Cemetery Vases, Statuary / Fountains, Fancy Flowerpots, Hanging Baskets, Art Pottery / Decorated and Undecorated / Plaques, Umbrella Stands / and All Kinds of Fancy Clay Goods."

The reverse reads, "Also Manufactures of Drain and Sewer Pipe, Fire Brick, Shapes and Tiles, Chimney Tops and Wind Guards, Gas Retorts and Settings, Locomotive Brick of any size, Smoke Jack for Engine Houses, Stone Ware for Chemical Purposes, Portland Mixture for Stove Lining, Land Tile, Fire Clay, Kaolin, Roman, Portland and American Cement."

Portland Stoneware Company Business Cards

19th Century Business Card from the Portland Stoneware Company in Portland, ME

(Top) Front of the Card

(Bottom) Reverse of the Card

I Am Only Aware of One Other Business Card Like this in Existence

The Second Card is Owned by Historic New England

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19th Century Business Card from the Portland Stoneware Company in Portland, ME

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Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

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