Featured Welcome to the "Steele Box"

Interesting stuff! Thanks for your diligence, first in 'rescuing' it from the dust bin of history, and second for sharing w us. What an interesting person 'Steele' was.

 

Cool! Good on ya for researching Cogan. We'll have to add the Norfolk Clam Eaters to our list of all-time favourite minor-league ballclub names (although nothing will ever top the Zanesville Flood Sufferers)...

By the way, the steamship material in your Item #27, particularly the ship schematics, is utterly fascinating. Thanks for posting the big pics of those!

 

HiBaseballGames

Hi BaseballGames, LOL "Norfolk Clam Eaters" who would have thought. As for the Inman Line schematics I was really surprised myself. It was not what I was expecting when I turned the page. It is really pretty neat.

 

My pleasure, and all of this because of Charles Steele. He had enough sense to put things aside instead of using the papers to start up the fireplace.

 

Item#29:

There are numerous checks still in a pile but I pulled a few that I could connect back to Base Ball. Some if not all relate back to payments found in the Base Ball ledger that I previously posted a few pages from.

 

Item #30:

Newton Base Ball Club "By Laws", undated or at least I think it is...

 

Item #31:

This is in rough shape. This an agreement to subscribers to pay for the Newton Base Ball Club uniforms....

 

Item #32:

1892 Calumet Electric Street Railway Company of Chicago. On the backside another neat thing, a map of the railway system at that time in Chicago. I was told that this is one of the earlier maps known about for the Calumet Electric Railway. It appears Calumet was the little guy and underdog at the time. Introducing an electric railway was not initially accepted.

https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicagos-first-streetcars/99549ae6-2b2f-48c7-a9ad-167cb512faec

 

Item #33:

Circa 1852 - Uncut Sussex Bank Notes (pre Federal Reserve). The artist that came up with these are amazing.





(These are not the only notes found)

 

As you may have discovered from googling around, bank notes can be valuable, ranging up to hundreds or even thousands depending on age, and scarcity. Scarcity is determined by year of issue, bank, and denomination. For some, there may fewer than ten known to have survived. Condition has a large impact on price. There are collectors that specialize in these. The ones you displayed are unissued, as they are missing the required signatures (which were added by hand).
The examples shown are "obsolete bank notes" from the early to mid 1800's. Leftovers from closed banks are called remainder notes. Subsequent to these, from the late 1800's into the early 1900's were national bank notes, which were backed by the treasury, and are still legal tender.

 

Hi smallaxe,

I did know about some of that BUT not all, Thank You. What I also did not know is that they were called "remainder notes". I did manage to find the Sussex Bank notes on eBay but the one note that is difficult to find is the $5 note, I do not have any. I also cannot find any of these notes with any form of writing on them, meaning a used note. Is there a reason for that? Were they destroyed once cashed in back in the day?

Thanks,

---Mark

 

What's on the reverse? Another thing to work out is whether what you have are proofs or remainders. I believe the value scale for any particular issue goes from low to high: remainder, proof, issued. The signed and issued notes are most rare. Once signed and issued, the notes went into (usually local) circulation. As long as the bank was viable, the notes could be redeemed for coin. But they were only as good as the bank. Circulated notes have various degrees of wear and damage.

 

Hi smallaxe,

The reverse has nothing on it. None of the bills do. These were actually in a separate really old leather steamer trunk next to the Steel Box, I took a few of the notes but not all. When I did I thought they were some kind of play money simply because I did not know better. The remainder of what was in that chest was taken away in a dumpster. Stupid me.

---Mark

 

If they were proofs, they would probably have red stamps on the reverse saying something like "property of blah blah bank note company". So, what you have are remainders. Sussex had a lot of notes made, so not particularly scarce, but still they have some value, as a quick search of ebay will show. Pretty cool find!

 

Just jumping in here.....somehow I missed this completely, but SO FASCINATING!!! AND NOW BOOKMARKED so I can go back and catch up!!! Thanks @mforder for posting all this.....DH will love the BASEBALL stuff!!!!!!!!!! It's all GREAT, and I love what you found on the graphics with the catalogs!!!

 

Welcome to the thread Aquitaine and you're welcome! Glad you stopped by. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will be putting more up as time allows. There may be a lull soon only because I may not be able to get to if for about a week or so. Enjoy!

 

Hi Small Axe,

I checked and there are no marks like that on any of the bills. It's all good though. I think the engravings are amazing on some of this stuff.

---Mark

 

Item #34:

We little did I know but it appears that Charles Steele was also an Insurance Agent for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. Back then it appears that you had to have your paperwork signed by a state official. That's where this gets a bit interesting. a Henry Cooper Kelsey signed this certificate. Henry seemed to be an interesting fellow.

I found a short article about him. I am sure there is more to read than this but this article is fascinating in itself. http://trentonhistory.org/Kelsey.htm and this link too... https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14774912/henry-cooper-kelsey In this one they talk about this specific insurance company and the scandal surrounding it and Mr Kelsey.

 

Item #35:

Ladies Theatrical Bouquet - Olympic Theatre - New York - Possibly 1869

I have to admit that I did not do much research on this one yet so if anyone want's to add some information please feel free to do so.

 

Very nice! I see the ad for Sarony's studio. Napoleon Sarony was one of the most well-known photographers of the 19th century. He was quite a character. Mostly known for celebrity photographs, but he also took many others. A rather lengthy synopsis of his career is here: https://www.broadway.cas.sc.edu/content/napoleon-sarony

Sarony changed his studio locations a few times. According to the link above, his first NY location was 680 Broadway and he moved to a different location in 1871. I have a lot of photos from his various studios. Here is a CDV from the 680 Broadway address. I have not identified the actor in this photo.