Description
Here’s a lot of unusual and early ephemera related to Oz author L Frank Baum’s family that lived in Syracuse, NY.
Includes a letterhead for Neal, Baum & Co, a dry goods store run by Baum’s brother-in-law William H H Neal, who was husband of Frank’s older sister Harriet, and his uncle Adam Clarke Baum, brother of Frank’s father Benjamin. Note that while the information online suggests that Frank’s father was the “Baum” in the company name, the names on this letterhead (upper right) indicate otherwise. At any rate, Frank himself was working as a clerk or salesman at the store by 1875. The letterhead with list of goods is hand-written and dated 1873, when Frank was just 17. A second letterhead for Sperry, Neal and Hyde from 1885 is the same business after Frank’s uncle had left the store to help make the family product Castorine. This letterhead has a letter from George W Benton, of unknown connection, to his aunt and uncle. Finally, there is an 1883(?) empty envelope addressed to Mrs. W H H Neal, Baum’s sister Harriet. The address is 127 Onondaga St, less than a mile from the (former) 678 Onondaga St home of Harriet where Frank was introduced to his wife, Maud. Overall in very good condition and quite scarce.
