A confession: I love billheads. You know the old receipts companies used to use between, say, the 1860s and the 1930s or 1940s. Some of them are so lovely with their illustrations and engravings. I especially admire illustrations of old company buildings, but illustrations of products can also be quite wonderful. We have a range of billheads up here in the Magnes archives for early Jewish businesses in the Western United States.

Here is one for Cerf & Co.:

J. Cerf & Co. billhead (wjhc-2000-011-002_016)

I particularly like this one for Peixotto and Silverman Dry Goods from 1876. Note the “One Price” statement at the top. This became more common after Weinstock-Lubin (the Sacramento-based firm) decided to do away with coded pricing and haggling and instead adopt a one-price-only policy. This meant that all goods were clearly marked with prices. Hagglers weren’t always pleased but David Lubin himself saw it as an improvement in business ethics:

Peixotto and Silverman dry goods billhead, 1876 (wjhc-2000-011-002_006)

Here are a few more nice ones:

A. Zellerbach paper goods billhead, 1902 (wjhc-2000-011-002_0221)

Steinhart Bros. dry goods billhead, 1864 (wjhc1969-022-ar1-004_11)