1908? One colored "The Ass Eating Thistles " card advertising Stapler Crackers from the Original Trenton Cracker Company. "3⅛ x 4⅜"
Sickle-like arcs divide the colored image into two sections. The large upper portion shows the ass eating thistles. Arcs enclosing the lower left separate a picture of a man being served fine food. The picture does not punctuate "Aesops." The text side has "Printed in Germany." It introduces a long description of its product with this question: "Do You Use the Cracker Stamped 'Stapler'? If not, why not?" It is quite surprising that I found two cards independently--and within a couple of months of each other--advertising the same local firm in Trenton.
1910? One colored "Fox and Geese" card advertising The Beaham Mfg. Co. of Kansas City, Mo., makers of "Faultless Starch." A bit less than 2½" x a bit more than 4".
I doubt that this is really a fable card. It is a hidden-picture card, with a fox to be found by the clever observer. The back makes an offer "Mail us 10 for Comic Pictures, Mail us 25 for Beautiful Pictures." I take it this is one of the former, cheaper variety! Browns and reds. A small symbol at the lower right of the picture says "N 718."
1890? Here is a mystery. The same image as "le sanglier et le rossignol" is presented in this unusual card as "L'Artiste t le Financier." No one has been able to point me to a text with this name or even subject. It took more than a little hunting to recognize where in our collection these Florian images have occurred.
1880? One card advertising Sholes' Insect Exterminator by means of the "Fable of the Ox" on the back of a card; the front of the card tells us to read it. The colored picture shows an emaciated and exhausted ox next to a healthy one who proclaims "25 Cents Worth of Sholes' Insect Exterminator makes me happy and fat." 3" x 4½".
Some fable! Sholes' is manufactured by the American Chemical Mfg. Co. of Rochester, NY. The card is in poor condition.
1926 One blotter almost 4" x 9" for the months from October through December, 1926. The blotter advertises "Remembrance Advertising." Apparently the maker of this series is C.W. Bloom of Brown & Bigelow on Milk Street in Boston. $10.95 from Carolyn Dias of Norfolk, VA, through eBay, Sept., '05.
This long landscape-formatted blotter has a picture on the left that seems to be in the same series as the pictures on the two blotters found earlier. Once again, I am not sure that I recognize which fable is being presented here. Is a young bear telling a fish story to an older bear? The moral attributed to Aesop here is "Do not believe everything you hear."
1900? One black-and-white portrait-format card illustrating La Fontaine's FC with "Nouvelles Galeries, Saumur" printed in red under the bottom of the picture. Cpaphil, Saint-Fargeau, France.
At the top of the picture side of this card is "Choix de Fables." It is extremely similar to a postcard in the series Collection Charier. Indeed, the verso of this card reads "Bons Points Instructifs: Collection C. Charier" above the text of La Fontaine's fable. The image here, as in Collection Charier, includes a tombstone-like tableau for listing both "Fables de La Fontaine" and the fable's title.
1880? One black-and-white DS plate. 10¼" in diameter. Slightly scalloped rim. "Ye Dog and ye Shadow." $14.99 from Nancy Wolf, Brookfield, WI, through eBay, Oct., '06.
The emphasis in this strong illustration is on the match between the aggressive dog with a chop in his mouth and the reflection in the water, beautifully positioned along the rim between the center and outside of the plate. The title makes its way toward the center of the plate from about 11 o'clock. On either side are branches with leaves and blossoms. Would this plate have been colored in some versions, like the plate of FS? There is a curious burn in the finish of this plate around 7 o'clock. The "Rd" of the trademark is here surrounded, clockwise from the top, by 28, Y, C, and 11, with IV over the whole mark.
1900? One black-and-white card advertising a plow manufactured by the J. I. Case Plow Company, of Racine. Just over 2½" x 4".
A monkey apparently holds a dog with one paw while presenting with the other a mouse right before the dog's nose. A small insert in the left lower corner says simply "OVER." The scene is similar to that on a Coat card, where the monkey dangles a fish before a cat.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" hologram FDC envelope depicting the head of La Fontaine with a turtle. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. $8 from Loic Marchat, Villeurbane, France, through eBay, April, '04.
The hologram cloth has the same image, framed with a gold stripe, that one finds on the maxicard issued at the same time as the stamp. Perhaps the background pictures the Château-Thierry countryside where LaFontaine grew up. The envelope mentions CEF.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" hologram FDC envelope depicting the head of La Fontaine and several animal groups. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. $3 from psoriano75 through eBay, May, '04.
The hologram cloth is signed "Thesmot." The likeness of LaFontaine seems to depart from the normal depiction, including the depiction on the stamp on this envelope. The animal groups are FC, LM, and perhaps CJ.
1972 One 3½ x 6½" FDC envelope depicting a wolf and lamb. Postmarked Monaco, Jan. 18, 1972. Editions J.F. $7 from Philaatelicpassion, Paris, through eBay, Oct., '06.
By comparison with the other two FDC envelopes done in Monaco at the time, this envelope seems rather plain. A red rectangle encloses the white lamb and the green wolf. The art is signed with a difficult-to-read name, perhaps "G. Mauscalchi, '71." The envelope notes that it is the 350th anniversary of La Fontaine's birth.
1980? One "Polska" stamp displaying FC. Good copy uncancelled. Extra copy cancelled. In a series with Puss n' Boots, Red Riding Hood and two other popular tales. H. Matuszewska. 40 GR. $1.50 from J.R. Stamps, Chelsea Antiques Building, NY, April, '97. Extra copy for 1000 Lire at the Porta Portese flea market, July, '98.
The crow clearly holds something in his mouth, and the fox seems to offer flowers picked from the surrounding lawn. Bravo, Crow!
1969 One "I.A. Krilov" Russian stamp and cover with a rare special cancellation on Feb. 13, '59, the two hundredth anniversary of Krylov's birth. $2.25 from Vladislav Pronin, Brooklyn, through Ebay, March, '99. Extra copy for $.95 from Edward Bubis, Ipswich, MA, Sept., '00. One further extra.
The stamp itself shows a colored head-and-shoulders portrait of Krylov and gives his dates (1769-1844). The envelope shows the full statue of him standing with arms crossed behind his back. My, the things one finds on Ebay!
