Trade Catalogs as a Research Tool: Historical Seed Catalogs

Trade catalogs can serve as invaluable sources for business historians, not only for technical details, but also for their explicit or implied commentaries on business, economics, culture, politics, and society. Long of interest to agricultural historians, horticulturists, and collectors of ephemera, seed catalogs provide a range of information as well as lovely images. A number of institutions have made available a selection of their holdings on-line, and several others have compiled bibliographical information about these resources. A sampling:

Seed Catalogs from the Smithsonian Institution: 500 images
Mail Order Gardens, and Harvest of Freedom, Cornell University Library
Nursery and Seed Catalog Image Gallery, USDA National Agricultural Library
Seed and Nursery Catalog Exhibit, Oregon State University
Reuter's Seeds for the South, Tulane University
Suitable for Cultivation, University of Delaware
Seed Catalogs, Iowa State University Digital Collections
Dutch Nursery Catalogs, Wageningen UR
Seed Catalogs, Digital Horizons (Great Plains network)

Bibliographical listings and finding aids include:

Bibliography, American Seed and Nursery Industry
Gardening Collection Finding Aid, Washington State University Library
Seed Catalog Finding Aid, University of Delaware Library

The Exchange has moved to the BHC's website

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Dear subscribers to The Exchange: I am happy to announce that our blog is moving platforms. For almost a decade, the Business History Conference has used Blogger to publish and archive posts. However, in early 2021, the blogging site announced that their email serving service would be terminated. In addition, we noticed that many of our subscribers had stopped receiving the blog’s emails, and our subscription provides very limited reporting. In agreement, the Electronic Media Oversight Committee , web administrator Shane Hamilton, and web editor Paula de la Cruz-Fernández decided to move our web blog from Blogger to our website . We now write to you to request that if you wish to continue receiving announcements from the BHC, please subscribe here: https://thebhc.org/subscribe-exchange Interested people will be asked to log into their BHC’s account or open one, free. If you have questions, please email The Business History Conference <web-admin [at] thebhc.org>...

Tomorrow: Webinar -- COVID-19, debt monetization, and lessons from war financing

Webinar COVID-19, debt monetization, and lessons from war financing by Harold James With introductions by Markus Brunnermeier, Director of the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance Event Details Friday, April 24 12:30 PM ET Space is limited, pre-registration is required. A Zoom link will be emailed to those who register early the morning of the event. The Zoom webinar room will open to attendees five minutes before the webinar begins. On Friday, April 24 at 12:30 PM ET, Harold James will join the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance for a webinar on the history of war financing and lessons for COVID-19. James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. The event will begin with a brief discussion by Markus Brunnermeier, Director of the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance. James will then present. Both Brunnermeier and James will take questions from the audience throughout the event. Visit the COVID-19 webinar series page for all u...

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