1884 Purple-Tinted Clear Celluloid California ‘Pioneer’ Wedding Anniversary Card For Sale

1884 Purple Celluloid California ‘Pioneer’ Wedding Anniversary Card.

- An unusual and rather wonderful piece of California Victoriana- a 15th Anniversary “Souvenir” card for George Katzenstein & Ida Richards, printed in gold on dark purple tinted clear celluloid. In addition, the subject of the card was an important early businessman in the Golden State-

“History of the New California, Its Resources and People” (1905, Leigh H. Irvine, ed.) has a long note from which we quote: “George B. Katzenstein certainly deserves representation among the men who have been the founders of the New California. Mr. Katzenstein was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 28, 1848 [and] was educated in public schools and high school of Marysville, California, being graduated with the class of 1865. He then came to Sacramento and joined William H. Mills in the conduct of the Rescue, a fraternal paper. He also assisted Mr. Mills in his duties as grand secretary of the Order of Good Templars, and they were likewise associated in an insurance business.

\"At length Mr. Mills retired in order to take charge of the Record, while Mr. Katzenstein succeeded him in the secretaryship, also as editor of the Rescue, and in the insurance business, continuing his activities in these various lines until 1891. He then took up a plan of colonization and was one of the organizers of the Orange Vale Colonization Company, which purchased three thousand acres of land and improved it by establishing a piped water system. This land was then sold in ten-acre tracts to eastern people, whom they had induced to come to California.

\"The company planted orchards and vineyards, setting out many varieties of oranges, lemons and deciduous fruits. They also planted table grapes, thereby demonstrating the feasability of producing citrus fruits in the northern as well as the southern section of California. In the summer of 1868 Mr. Katzenstein took charge of the Sacramento and northern California business of the Earl Fruit Company, the most extensive shippers of deciduous fruits in the state.

\"In 1869 Mr. Katzenstein was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Richards, a native of Lowell, Massachusetts. Mr. Katzenstein is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his prominence in the fraternity is indicated by the fact that he is a past grand. He is also past grand chancellor of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, having filled the highest office within the gift of that order in the state in 1885. He is likewise past grand master workmen of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and it will thus be seen that his prominence in fraternal circles is equal to that in his business career.

\"He has done much to advance the wheels of progress, aiding materially in the development of business activity and energy wherein the prosperity and growth of the state always depend. He has found in each transition stage opportunity for further effort and broader labor, and his enterprise has not only contributed to his individual success, but has also been of marked value to the community in which he makes his home”.

Card. 4.5”x3”. Some rubbing.

SHIPPING NOTES: We combine shipping charges on orders for more than one item- you pay the shipping fee for your first item, and any other items that you order at the same time are shipped with it for no additional charge [If you buy more than one item please ask us to send a revised invoice before you pay]. All ephemera & photos are shipped USPS ‘Ground Advantage’ (which used to be First Class Package) in a board-reinforced card mailer with a large red DO NOT BEND sticker.

Stock #43919

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Joslin Hall Books & Ephemera
Selling books & ephemera since 1983

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