Want a 20 second distraction from 2020? Here are some mesmerizing pictures from 1800s seed catalogs
Just 'cause
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Paying attention to current events — especially this week, month, and year — is a nonnegotiable civic duty. But that doesn't mean the election and pandemic warrant your undivided attention. Doomscrolling is bad for mental health, WIRED reported.
Everyone needs a break. So let's take a break together, with mesmerizing snapshots of seed catalogs from the 1800s. These illustrations come by way of Smithsonian Libraries.
Minnesota King Corn / Smithsonian CC
NORTHRUP, BRASLAN & GOODWIN CO. 1892. NORTHERN GROWN TESTED SEEDS (PAGES 1-46 MISSING), MINNEAPOLIS MN.
Lilies in a chianti bottle. W. Atlee Burpee & Co. 1895.
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Why not?
The $1600 Tomato from Maule's seed catalogue for 1887
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Legend has it, the tomato is still for sale today...
Tulips from Bulbs, plants, seeds, for autumn planting, 1892
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Sweet peas, watermelon, and a variety of vegetables of Illustrated catalogue of everything for flower and vegetable garden, 1896
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Women and Verbena from Miss C.H. Lippincott flower seeds, 1899
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Dahlias from Maule's seed catalogue, 1896
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Sweet peas from Cole's garden annual, 1893
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Plot twist: dog
"A noble representative of a noble breed,—Fordhoook eclipse." W. Atlee Burpee Company. 1895. BURPEE'S MANUAL OF THOROUGHBRED LIVE STOCK & FANCY POULTRY
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Last but not least, a special one from the 1900s:
Farmer and his tomatoes from Garden & farm manual, 1906
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