Geo. S. Harris & Sons, 718, 720, 722, & 724 Arch St., Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: Geo. S. Harris & Sons, ca. 1880). Chromolithograph trade cards. Gift of Helen Beitler.

 

George S. Harris (1823-1891) initially worked in Philadelphia in the 1840s as a letterpress printer before adding lithography to his operations. By the 1870s the firm, renamed Geo. S. Harris & Sons, had built a seven-story, “iron front” factory for their mass production of lithographic trade cards, can and cigar-box labels, circulars, calendars, and stamped envelopes. In 1889 Harris & Sons bought T. Sinclair & Son and became the largest lithographic firm in the city with about 600 employees.

 

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