Trade card, Yorkville, Manhattan, New York. Circa 1884 – 1895.

Price:  $10.00            Size:  3 and 1/4 x 5 and 13/16″

Here’s a beauty, there’s something about seashells….Washed up on the shore, with some seashore-type plants surrounding it, is a large half-shell with the proprietor’s info stamped inside, and a ship and lighthouse scene happening in the distance.

“D. Joseph Adams, House Furnisher of Yorkville, Hardware, Ranges, etc. 1518 Third Ave., Bet. 85th and 86th Sts.”

Unless you know the neighborhood, or Manhattan in general, you might (like me) have thought that Yorkville was a furniture brand or a popular china pattern. But D. J. Adams was saying that he was furnishing homes in Yorkville, the Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY neighborhood.  And this would have been in 1884 – ’85, according to the only city directory, or record of any kind, found for Mr. Adams. His home was nearby at 1434 Lexington Avenue.

Source:  Trow City Directory Company’s The New York City Directory, 1884-85. p. 23. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.