Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Seed Catalogs of Yore

I read about these old seed catalogs in Marcine's blog, A Clock Without Hands. Marcine spent one Sunday evening browsing through the Smithsonian Library Seed Catalog and these are some of her favorites. I think they would make great postcards and posters. I'm astounded at the high quality of design for these rather mundane items -- illustrations in seed catalogs! Aren't they startlingly beautiful?

You can find more of Marcine's ephemera favorites on Flickr.














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19 comments:

  1. Nora the ExplorerAugust 4, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    these are pretty! thanks for sharing :)

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  2. AnonymousAugust 4, 2009 at 4:17 PM

    Wow. Those are beautiful. I am impressed.

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  3. CassieAugust 4, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    Very pretty. :)

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  4. Jill of All TradesAugust 4, 2009 at 6:09 PM

    Love these. A few years ago Burpee's catalog had some reprints of old ones that I loved and had framed for my kitchen. In fact the colors were the basis of two kitchens.

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  5. Lindsey MichelleAugust 4, 2009 at 6:39 PM

    Those are gorgeous!

    { Lindsey }
    http://greatfullday.blogspot.com

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  6. TheBeautyFileAugust 4, 2009 at 8:09 PM

    Beautiful prints! I absolutely love these!

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  7. Simply Mel {Reverie}August 4, 2009 at 8:47 PM

    It makes me so happy when a seed catalog felt the necessity to use such exquisite pieces of art!

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  8. UnknownAugust 4, 2009 at 9:18 PM

    this is such a pretty post - i love it!! great job!!!
    xox

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  9. kimAugust 4, 2009 at 10:03 PM

    i have some beautiful seed packets which were sent from sweden. i can't part with them. thanks for reminding me I need to take a better look at them.

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  10. BALLET NEWSAugust 5, 2009 at 12:58 AM

    Wow these are amazing - thank you so much for sharing !

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  11. Yvonne AndersonAugust 5, 2009 at 1:14 AM

    Me like!

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  12. JoytiAugust 5, 2009 at 2:11 AM

    O how pretty those are....

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  13. HeiniAugust 5, 2009 at 3:29 AM

    Oh, how adorable are these!

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  14. carolina @ patagonia giftsAugust 5, 2009 at 5:28 AM

    these are so lovely! I'm in love with the last one, a jasmine I think? thanks so much for your sweet wishes! xo

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  15. deeAugust 5, 2009 at 7:36 AM

    They would be so pretty hanging in a bathroom or boudoir, wouldn't they?!

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  16. Erin HelgersonAugust 5, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    I love vintage seeds! Wouldn't those be pretty framed in a series in your kitchen? So exquisite! Thanks for sharing! XO!

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  17. Tina TarnoffAugust 5, 2009 at 11:44 AM

    I would love to have these framed on my wall, they are amazing. THey remind me of Cafe Cartolina cards (here is the link to her blog http://cafecartolina.blogspot.com/, she's amazing!)

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  18. AmyAugust 5, 2009 at 12:45 PM

    The illustrations are just lovely. I love vintage packaging. It's amazing how much they used to put into making ordinary products look beautiful.

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  19. AnonymousAugust 5, 2009 at 6:51 PM

    So beautiful!! Makes me want to grow flowers! :)

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