Commerce Collection

Advertisement for Diamond Jewelry. ca. 1938, MAYBAUM BROTHERS, Inc. 48 West 48th Street, NEW YORK, N. Y
Advertisement for Diamond Jewelry. ca. 1938, MAYBAUM BROTHERS, Inc. 48 West 48th Street, NEW YORK, N.Y. Wish you were here now-you should see the many unusual buys we have in Diamond Bracelets

CAPITALIST PYRAMID, 1911. American Socialist poster

Wall St Crash 1929
The Wall Street Crash makes the headlines of the late news issue

Christmas Market in Romerberg, Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

Singer sewing machine ad, 1890s
Advertisement for the Singer Automatic sewing machine, 1890s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Gutenbergs printing press, 1450s
Gutenberg and Fust with the first printing press, Germany, 1450s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

WALL STREET: BEARS & BULLS. Bulls and Bears in the Market. An allegorical painting by William H. Beard, 1879

Street scene, Hoi An, Vietnam, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Asia

Union Stockyards entrance, Chicago, 1890s
Entrance to the Union Stockyards, Chicago, 1890s. Albertype reproduction of a photograph

London Stock Exchange - The Stock Jobbers Pitches. Date: early 1960s

Coal mine in England, 1850s
Removing coal in the Bradley mine, Staffordshire, England, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

Christmas Market, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Medieval goldsmith at work
Workshop of Etienne Delaulne, a goldsmith in Paris, 1500s. Hand-colored woodcut reproduction of a 16th-century illustration

Vucciria Market, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, Europe

Pedro Miguel Locks, Panama Canal, Panama, Central America

LLOYDs OF LONDON, 1890. The Great Room of the English insurance company, at the Royal Exchange in London, England. Line engraving, English, 1890

Advertisement for linoleum manufacturers
An advertisement for M Nairn & Co, floor cloth and linoleum manufacturers of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, with premises also in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Paris. circa 1883

Map of the extent of the Hanseatic League in about 1400. The Hanseatic League was an alliance of about 100 north German towns and trading interests important in northern Europe from the 13th century

Burning the candle at both ends C014 / 1258
Burning the candle at both ends. Conceptual image of a candle that is lit at both ends, representing overwork and exhaustion

London Stock Exchange
A busy scene at the London Stock Exchange. Date: late 1960s

CARTOON: ANTI-TRUST, 1889. The Bosses of the Senate. American anti-trust cartoon, 1889, by Joseph Keppler

Marietta on the Ohio River, 1870s
Steamboats on the Ohio River at Marietta, Ohio, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cylinder printing press, 1800s
Hoe printing press, showing type locked on the bed and overlays fixed on the cylinder; ink rollers on far right, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

LEGGY SECRETARY 1920 S
A leggy secretary sits by her typewriter and takes a letter, revealing her suspender in the process

The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside, (detail), 1338-1340. Artist: Ambrogio Lorenzetti
The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside, (detail), 1338-1340. Ambrogio Lorenzetti frescoed the side walls of the Council Room (Sala dei Nove) of the City Hall (Palazzo Pubblico) of Siena

Farrows Bank Ltd. - The Peoples Bank - 1 Cheapside, London. In setting up the bank, Thomas Farrow wished not only that unsuspecting people in need of money to tide them over a period of temporary

Copy made in Cairo in 1456 of the world map prepared by the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100-1165) for Roger II (1095-1154) King of Sicily from 1130. In this map, North is at the bottom

Midhurst: West Street, 1903
John Fletcher Collection West Sussex Record Office, Ref No PH 26114/49

American cartoon by Clifford Berryman, c1909, showing President Theodore Roosevelt slaying those trusts he considered
T. ROOSEVELT CARTOON, 1909. American cartoon by Clifford Berryman, c1909, showing President Theodore Roosevelt slaying those trusts he considered " bad" for the public interest while

STOCK MARKET CRASH. An unlucky speculator, one Walter Thornton of New York, offering to sell his roadster after the stock market crash: oil over a photograph, Oct. 30, 1929

Lobster boat off the Atlantic coast of Maine and Canada
Lobster fishermen in the Grand Manan Channel between Maine and New Brunswick, 1890s. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

South Street docks in New York City, 1870s
Merchant ships unloading along South Street, New York City, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

BUSN2A-00012
Native Americans exchanging furs for goods at a Hudson Bay Company post. Hand-colored 19th-century woodcut of a Frederic Remington illustration

Southwest, American Indian art & handicrafts. Navajo blanket, beadwork, turquoise necklace, silver & turquoise belt buckle, 12-century Anasazi Mimbres bowl. PR

PAXTON, Joseph (1801-1865). Crystal Palace. 1851. First building with revolutionary modular, prefabricated design, and use of glass. Built for the Universal Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London

Brisbane skyline, Queensland, Australia

HARLEM NEWSBOY, 1943. A newsboy from Harlem, New York. Photograph by Gordon Parks, 1943
HARLEM NEWSBOY, 1943. A newsboy in Harlem, New York. Photograph by Gordon Parks, 1943, digitally colored by Granger, NYC -- All Rights Reserved

ENGLAND: TRADE CHARTER. Act of Parliament, 13 October 1698, establishing the English Company Trading to the East Indies, a rival trade organization to the East India Company; the new company was soon

Market Place, Romford, London, England. Date: circa 1904

Hong Kong street scene, 1890s C016 / 4499
Hong Kong street scene. Pedestrians, carts, rickshaws and signs in both Chinese script and English on a hill street in Hong Kong in the 1890s. At the time, this area was a British colony

Midhurst: cottages on Knockhundred Row, 1902
The cottages are now home to Midhursts public library John Fletcher Collection West Sussex Record Office, Ref No PH 26114/52

President Andrew Jackson destroying the Bank of the United States. Lithograph cartoon, 1828
ANDREW JACKSON (1828). President Andrew Jackson destroying the Bank of the United States. Lithograph cartoon, 1828

TUPPERWARE PARTY, 1950s. A Tupperware party in an American home. Advertising photograph, 1950

STOCK MARKET CRASH. Cartoon: New York Stock Exchange on Black Thursday, 1929. Print by William Gropper
STOCK MARKET CRASH. Cartoon: New York Stock Exchange on " Black Thursday", 1929. Print by William Gropper

Spanish galleon at sea
Spanish galleon, an improved caravel three times longer than wide, used in the 1500s and 1600s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Brooklyn Bridge when newly opened, 1883
Brooklyn Bridge over the East River, looking toward Manhattan, 1883. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Logging in Wisconsin, 1800s
Hauling logs with a horse-drawn sledge in northern Wisconsin, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

EXPL2A-00139
Timbuktu in Africa, as drawn by Rene-Auguste Caillie, the first European visitor, 1828. Hand-colored 19th-century woodcut reproduction of Caillies illustration

Southwest, Indian handicrafts. Jemez pottery, 12-century Anasazi Mimbres bowl, Navajo buckle, Navajo bead work & turquoise necklaces, Acoma seed pot. PR

England, London, Newham, O2 Arena and Canary Wharf buildings reflecting in Royal Victoria Docks

Statue of Liberty and Lower Mannhattan
The Statue of Liberty, Hudson River and lower Mannhattan in 1995 Date: 1995

Two fishing boats tied up to pier at Noyo harbor, near Fort Bragg, California

NYC Financial District
New York, New York: January 16, 1924. Looking south down Broad St, in the heart of the financial district, with the New York Stock Exchange at the right

Men standing in front of the Board of Trade bar and gambling house in Butte, Montana
MONTANA: GAMBLING, 1939. Men standing in front of the Board of Trade bar and gambling house in Butte, Montana. Photograph by Arthur Rothstein, 1939

WA, Seattle, Public Market Center sign, at the Pike Place Market

Roosevelt Cartoon, 1904
ROOSEVELT CARTOON, 1904. Jack and the Wall Street Giants. American lithograph cartoon by Udo Keppler, 1904, depicting a tiny President Theodore Roosevelt preparing to wield the sword of Public

Popular Aviation Magazine

Chicago Board of Trade - the interesting, lively, and at times noisy trading on the floor. Date: 1916

French poster, The Future Lies in Socialism
A French poster which declares that The Future Lies in Socialism, showing men who have fought in the First World War facing up to the octopus monster of commercialism, foreign gold

WALL STREET CRASH, 1929. An unlucky speculator, one Walter Thornton of New York, offering to sell his roadster, October 30, 1929

Chicagos State Street, 1890s
Marshall Field & Co. retail store on State Street, downtown Chicago, 1890s. Albertype reproduction of a photograph

Riverboats at Shreveport, Louisiana, 1870s
Stevedores loading barrels at the Red River levee at Shreveport, Louisiana, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Baltimore in the 1870s
Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, looking from Federal Hill, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Delaware River waterfront of Philadelphia, 1750s
Colonial Philadelphias skyline and harbor, 1750s. Hand-colored woodcut of an 18th-century illustration

Leadville, a Colorado boom town, 1870s
Chestnut Street in Leadville, Colorado, during the mining boom, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Barber shaving a customer with a razor
Barber of 1789 shaving a customer, shown in a Pears Soap ad, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Apprentice carpenter
Young carpenters apprentice planing a block of wood, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

BUSN2A-00011
Advertisement for Cadburys Cocoa, showing a croquet game, 1899. Hand-colored printed halftone 19th century

Bakers at their trade in the late Middle Ages
Bakers of York, showing their guild ordinances, England, 1590s. Hand-colored 19th-century woodcut reproduction of an earlier illustration

A display of vases at the Qing and Ming Ancient Pottery Factory, Jingdezhen city, Jiangxi Province, China, Asia

Overhead view of the fruit and vegetable market, Pushkar, Rajasthan State, India, Asia

Cooling towers, Radcliffe on Soar Power Station, domestic housing in foreground, Trent Valley, Nottinghamshire, England, UK, Europe

Lloyds Interior 1960S
A busy scene inside Lloyds of London. Date: late 1960s

VIRGINIA: SALT MINE, 1857. Salt mine at Saltville, Virginia. Wood engraving, American, 1857

Bank of England / Dividend
Dividend Day at The Bank of England

OR, Oregon Coast, Newport, Commercial fishing fleet at the Port of Newport, Yaquina
Boats in harbor, Yaquina Bay, Newport, Oregon, USA

Times Square, Theatre District, Midtown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America, North America

Share certificate for The Yukon Goldfields
A share certificate for The Yukon Goldfields Limited, representing 35 shares. Gold deposits were first discovered along the Yukon River in Canada in 1896, and this triggered off a gold rush

Cobble stone street in the old town with a wine shop, a wine barrel on the street advertising Beaujolais Nouveau, Cave Le Temps du Vin, rue des Fontaines Bergerac Dordogne France

ST. LOUIS: FREIGHT YARD. Twilight view of a freight yard near a grain storage facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Photographed c1974

Juruena, Brazil. Forested river bank reflected in the water with no clouds in the sky

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Commerce, the lifeblood of economies and the driving force behind global trade. From its humble beginnings to its towering heights, it has shaped societies and transformed nations. In 1450s Europe, Johannes Gutenberg's revolutionary printing press sparked a new era by making books more accessible to the masses. Ideas spread like wildfire, fueling intellectual growth and challenging established norms. Fast forward to 1850s England, where coal mines dotted the landscape. The mining industry boomed as demand for this vital resource skyrocketed during the Industrial Revolution. Commerce thrived on the back of hardworking miners who risked their lives in pursuit of progress. The capitalist pyramid loomed large in American society in 1911. An iconic socialist poster depicted this structure, highlighting how wealth concentrated at the top while workers struggled below. It served as a stark reminder that commerce could be both empowering and exploitative. The Great Depression struck Wall Street with devastating force in 1929. The crash shattered dreams and wiped out fortunes overnight, leaving an indelible mark on history. Yet from these ashes rose resilience and innovation as governments sought ways to rebuild shattered economies. Across continents and cultures, street scenes tell tales of vibrant marketplaces brimming with activity. Hoi An's bustling streets in Vietnam showcase Southeast Asia's rich trading heritage while Vucciria Market in Palermo captures Sicily's vibrant spirit through colorful stalls selling local delicacies. Advertisements have long been integral to commerce's narrative - enticing consumers with promises of quality products or services since time immemorial. A vintage linoleum ad showcases manufacturers' creativity while a Singer sewing machine ad from the 1890s speaks volumes about technological advancements shaping industries. Christmas markets evoke a sense of joyous celebration intertwined with commercialism - none more so than Frankfurt's Romerberg market in Germany. Here, centuries-old traditions blend seamlessly with modern consumerism as locals and tourists alike revel amidst twinkling lights and festive cheer.