Stark, J.N.:

$1,250 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

GOOD NEWS FOR ALL. NEW CASH STORE AT OLIVE GREEN. FRESH GOODS AT PRICES SUITED TO THE WAR TIMES [caption title]. A charming and attractively-illustrated advertisement for a new general store opening in Olive Green in Delaware County, in central Ohio at the outbreak of the Civil War. The overall message of the broadside is interesting in that it seeks to reassure customers that despite the potential fear of shortages caused by the Civil War, "fresh goods at prices suited to the war times" would still be readily available.In the large woodcut in the center of the broadside, a crowd gathers around an arriving train, exclaiming: "A large stock has been received by J.N. Stark. It is astonishing at what low prices he is now enabled to sell Goods. Well this arrival beats them all; I'll give him a call." The train belches a plume of black smoke and a sign on one of the cars reads: "Liquors, Groceries, Farming Utensils, &c, &c, just arrived." It appears as though someone has attempted to cross-out the word "liquors." Stark promises (with apparent contradiction) that "Country Produce of all kinds taken in payment for Merchandise.... Buying and selling for cash alone, I am enabled to give customers as good bargains as they can find anywhere else in the country." Among the goods offered are "hardware, glassware, clothing, notions, boots, shoes, hats, caps, stationery, wooden and queensware" all to be sold from a "well furnished store." The woodcut is arranged between text composed of lar

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