Assorted artifacts related to writing were recovered from the shaft feature behind 1018 Palmer Street. These implements provide evidence of the importance of writing as a means of communication in business and personal matters throughout the nineteenth century.

Slate Tablet and Pencils

This broken writing tablet and slate pencils may have been used by the children or adult occupants of this household (Cat # 4.24.516; 4.24.518; 4.34.41; 4.29.58; 4.31.6; 4.31.5). Throughout the nineteenth century, school children learned basic writing and math skills by practicing on sheets of slate with pencils cut and shaped from softer slate. Adults also used writing slates in business, domestic, and leisure activities.

Slate tablets were usually mounted in wooden frames to protect them from breaking if they fell while in use. Portions of the original edge of this slate are identified in narrow beveling, and the areas the frame formerly covered appear slightly darker.

Mail-order catalogs advertised writing slates in several standard sizes. ¹ The mended pieces of the recovered slate measure approximately 5.25 x 6.5 inches—a size not listed among those commonly offered. It is likely that the original slate was slightly larger and broke in such a way that some margins appear finished.

Portions of nine slate pencils were found; a few even have sharpened points. Despite the small number of pencils recovered, two distinct types are apparent. Several of the pencils are dark charcoal gray with flat edges, some of which showing saw marks. The dark gray pencils tend to be smaller in diameter (0.15–0.18 inches). A few of the pencils were formed from a light gray material and tend to be rounded and of a larger dimension (greater than 0.2 inches in diameter). While all of the recovered examples were either broken or heavily used, most of the slate pencils advertised in the late nineteenth century measured a standard length of 5.5 inches. ²

Once a student had mastered the basic skills, they were taught to write with a quill or dip pen and ink on paper.

Ink and Mucilage Bottles

In all, 11 ink bottles were recovered from the shaft feature at 1018 Palmer Street. While a few have identifiable marks, the majority of these bottles were not embossed and none of the paper labels survived to connect them with specific ink manufacturers.

The unmarked bottles included “cone,” “umbrella,” and “carmine” inks, representing a broad temporal range. The two cone inks recovered have molded vertical ribs and plain label panels (4A-G-0105 and 4A-G-0038). The conical form seems to have originated in the United States in the 1830s, and the two examples shown here likely date to before or around the American Civil War. ³ Four umbrella inks are probably contemporary with the cone inks (4A-G-0335, 4A-G-0336, 4A-G-0173, Cat # 4.24.292). Umbrella inks were the most common ink bottle between 1840 and 1890, and were typically characterized by eight equal vertical panels. ⁴ Like the cone inks from this site, these umbrella inks likely date from the 1860s or earlier.

The two carmine inks recovered from Feature 2 are characterized by a square shape with beveled shoulders (4A-G-0161 and 4A-G-0102). This form was common between the 1860s and 1910s, though these cup bottom-molded bottles—with their tooled bead type finishes—likely date to the last quarter of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth, when carmine inks with glass stoppers were popular. The glass stoppers were frequently necessary because carmine ink had the tendency to evaporate rapidly. ⁵ The term “carmine” refers to red ink, and although carmine bottles also held other ink colors, one of those recovered from Feature 2 remains sealed and filled with red ink. Originally, the color of carmine ink was produced by certain scale insects—particularly the cochineal (Dactylopius coccus), a small beetle native to South America and Mexico—but eventually the term came to be applied generally to the bright red color, regardless of the origin of its pigment. The carminic acid from the body and eggs of the cochineal was frequently mixed with ammonia water and gum-arabic to produce carmine ink, though ground Brazil wood, either alone or mixed with cochineal, also could be used to make red inks. ⁶ It took nearly 70,000 cochineals to produce a pound of pigment, so it is not surprising that red ink, and indeed most colored inks in general, was more expensive than black ink. ⁷

Two ink bottles recovered from Feature 2 displayed embossing that allowed further identification. One of these bottles features a cylindrical style that collectors often call a “domed” ink. Its short central neck differentiates it from domed inks with offset necks, also known as “igloo” inks (4A-G-0169). This domed ink is embossed with “UNION INK Co / SPRINGFIELD / MASS” and is the product of the Union Paper Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1868, the Union Paper Company advertised their new “Commercial Writing Fluid,” “Brilliant Red Ink,” “Concentrated Diamond Blueing,” and a “Superior Article of Mucilage” in Thomas’ Buffalo City Directory for 1868, and this cup bottom-molded bottle is likely contemporary with the advertisement. ⁸

The other embossed ink bottle features an octagonal form and crudely applied two-part collared ring finish (4A-G-0325). Embossed lengthwise “HARRISON’S / COLUMBIAN / INK” on three consecutive sides, this bottle may have been a small “bulk” or “master” ink and used to fill smaller inkwells. ⁹ Apollos W. Harrison produced blue, black, and red inks in Philadelphia from the mid-1840s to about 1877, and first appears in the Philadelphia city directories in 1847 as “Apollos W. Harrison, books, maps and ink.” ¹⁰

A larger stoneware Thaddeus Davids & Company master ink bottle was recovered from Feature 2, as well, complete with pouring lip and still corked (4A-C-0038). The New York firm of Thaddeus Davids & Company was a very successful ink manufacturer prior to the Civil War, and indeed this bottle bears an impressed 1858 registry mark near its base. Davids entered the ink business as a young boy in 1823, and by 1833, he was producing ink similar in quality to English inks. ¹¹ Davids added indigo for more color and termed it “chemical writing fluid.” ¹² The Thaddeus Davids & Company name originated in 1856, after Thaddeus’ son George W. entered as a partner. In that same year, a well-respected chemist deemed Davids’ ink as the “least fading” ink when compared with the products of Maynard & Noyes, Harrison’s Columbian, and Blackwood’s. ¹³ Davids patented the ceramic bottle form recovered from Feature 2 on January 11, 1859, describing it as a “petticoat” bottle because of its distinctive flared bottom half. ¹⁴ This bottle form is believed to be the first patented ink bottle in the United States. ¹⁵

In addition to ink bottles, Feature 2 also yielded two mucilage/glue bottles. Mucilage is an adhesive made from plant material rather than animal products, and was historically packaged in bottles that were identical to those used for ink. Because the same companies often made both ink and adhesives, it is difficult to identify the original contents of unmarked bottles.

The S. S. Stafford Ink Company of New York produced this mucilage bottle marked “STICK / WELL / & CO” sometime after 1869, and it represents a commonly used mucilage bottle form (4A-G-0104). While the paneled body sides of this bottle are very similar to those on umbrella inks—apart from its embossing—features such as the distinct horizontal ridge on the shoulder, larger size, and wider mouth distinguish it as a mucilage/glue container.

The second mucilage bottle recovered from Feature 2 is a form that has come to be called the “igloo and spout” style by collectors (4A-G-0136). This bottle features embossing around its heel that reads “MORGAN’S PATENT JULY 16TH 1867.” This embossing refers to U. S. Patent No. 66,868, issued to Elisha Morgan of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1867 for an “Improved Mucilage-Stand” consisting of a “reservoir mucilage-stand with supply-fountain, neck, and well, in combination with a brush.” ¹⁶ While this particular form was patented as a mucilage bottle, as with many forms in this category, these bottles were also used for ink.

The large number of ink bottles recovered from behind 1018 Palmer Street may relate to the occupations of Jacob C. Cramp, William’s son, and Francis M. Chandler, William’s nephew. Jacob is first listed as a clerk in the Philadelphia city directories in 1868 and, for the most part, he remained a clerk through 1889, when the Cramp family left the address. ¹⁷ In 1869, he is listed as a hardware salesman at 503 Commerce Street, and appears to have ventured into the “segar” business with Richard Loper Birely between 1884 and 1886. ¹⁸ Loper lived around the corner from the Cramps at 426 Richmond Street during this period, and he and Jacob formed the short-lived Cramp & Birely, first on the 600 block of Arch Street and then at 109 East Girard Avenue. ¹⁹ Cramp & Birely no longer appears in the city directories after 1886, and Jacob is thereafter again listed only as a clerk.

According to both city directories and census records, Jacob worked at the tax offices first at the corner of 6th and Chestnut and later at 723 Arch Street, between at least 1872 and 1882. ²⁰ Philadelphia’s Tax Department, Office of Collector of Delinquent Taxes, and Board of Revision of Taxes were all located at these locations during the years Jacob is listed there. ²¹ Interestingly, Jacob’s neighbor, Emanuel Stratton, at 1020 Palmer Street, is also listed as “Watchman in Tax Office” in the 1880 census. ²²

Francis M. Chandler, William G.’s nephew and Jacob’s cousin, is first listed as a clerk in the city directories in 1875, and continues to be listed as either a clerk or a bookkeeper until 1884, when he moves from 1018 Palmer to Diamond Street. ²³ No additional addresses for Frank’s workplace are given in the directories, so it may be that he was working as a clerk at the nearby shipyard where his uncle, William, was superintendent.