Vintage Advertisements Depict Earlier Life in Lebanon County

May 20, 2023

This is one of the metal stencils used to apply Jonas Knoll’s advertising to the sides of his wooden “Double Washer” for doing laundry; it was patented in 1889 and 1894.

LEBANON, Pa. — As the adage goes, “It pays to advertise.” Apparently that advice goes back at least as far as the ancient Romans.

According to the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing’s book, “Understanding Media and Culture,” when Italy’s Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it preserved evidence in the town of Pompeii. Some of it showed merchants branded some of their products, made claims about their products’ quality and even relied on endorsements from famous athletes of the era.

When the printing press was invented in 1440, the concept of advertising took a big leap forward due to being able to put advertisements into writing and reproducing them for use as posters or handbills.

In the electronic age, a business has a wide range of choices for getting out the word about their company’s products.

However, before radio, television and internet, printed forms of advertising remained the primary means for reaching out to potential customers.

The Lebanon County Historical Society, located at 924 Cumberland St., recently rounded up a grouping of old-time advertisements from its collection and put them on display in its front parlor.

Given the rural nature of Lebanon County, it’s no surprise many of these advertisements are agriculture-related.

The thrifty Pennsylvania Germans especially liked useful items that were free, such as advertising calendars, which made good year-end giveaways.

Calendars were a good advertising tool because they kept the business name and contact information in sight of customers year-round and made a nice holiday present, too.

Harry G. Spotts, a dealer in “Schott’s Grade A Raw Milk and Hershey’s Pasteurized Milk and Products” operated his business on the Cornwall Pike.

In 1931, he provided wall calendars with a colorful scene that featured a simmering volcano in the background and a young woman playing a mandolin-like string instrument in a tropical setting.

This was long before local telephone number prefixes and area codes, as evidenced by his “Bell Phone” number, “761-3-1.”

Another similar full-color piece of artwork depicts a full moon shining over a mountain waterfall that discharges into a creek flowing past a peaceful-looking log cabin.

It’s likely this inviting scene was originally part of a calendar, with the picture saved and framed because of its appealing subject matter.

Two deer — one of them a big-rack buck — are shown grazing along the opposite side of the stream. While this picture was likely once part of a calendar too, it was apparently attractive enough that its owner discarded the calendar pages, but saved and framed the artwork.

It was an advertising piece for C.M. Yiengst of Mount. Zion. Yiengst advertised his “Fresh and Springer Cows, Fat Cattle, Calves and Hogs.” He listed his address as “Route 2 Lebanon, Pa” with “Phone 30R11 Jonestown” as his contact information.

A Sessions Clock Company mechanical “advertiser” wall clock allowed multiple companies to stretch their advertising budgets by sharing space on this poster displayed below the clock’s face.

A handsome wall clock was a useful item to display in a place of business,. Among its 55 mechanical clock models, the Sessions Clock Co. of Connecticut manufactured an “Advertising No. 4” model.

Founded in 1903, the Sessions company made mechanical clocks until 1933, when it shifted to electric clocks and timers. The historical society’s display includes a Sessions wooden case clock with advertisement space painted onto a poster board shared by four local businesses.

Two of the advertisers are “general merchandise stores” owned by members of the Swope family. The D. Aug Swope ad also mentions “farming implements” among its goods.

There’s also an ad for Prescott 10 cent cigars and John Dickinson 5 cent cigars, reflecting the county’s history as a place where tobacco was both grown and used for making cigars. During the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, Lebanon County had over 30 cigar manufacturers.

The only business advertised on the clock still in existence is M.A. Brightbill, a company that once made mounted commercial vehicle bodies.

Founded in 1919 by Miles A. Brightbill and now known as Brightbill Body Works, the company is an authorized Blue Bird bus dealer selling new and used school buses, commercial buses, vans and limo coaches. The bus depicted on their Sessions clock ad appears to be of 1920s vintage.

The use of a business name on a product sometimes served the dual purpose of advertising as well as a means of having a returnable item find its way back to the business.

This applied to things like glass milk bottles and feed bags as well as bags or boxes holding other commodities such as seeds or produce.

In earlier times, the application of ink or paint used with metal stencils on the exteriors of containers helped identify the origin of the products they held.

This metal stencil was used to apply the name of a local mill and its operator onto sacks that might’ve held grain or livestock feed. It’s likely the mill’s name was mis-spelled on the stencil, as “Missimer” is a fairly common surname in Lebanon County, while “Missmer” (sic) isn’t.

R. Lechner’s simple stencil shows he operated Missmer’s Mill in Lebanon County. Not much more is known about the man nor the location of this mill. However, the stencil was likely used to apply his business’s name onto sacks that held grist or feed from his milling operation.

Several stencils on display hearken back to local inventor Jonas L. Knoll, who created the “Double Washer,” a wooden laundry contraption with two handles that operated two agitators inside its washing compartment.

Here is an image of Lebanon inventor Jonas Knoll’s “Double Washer”; note information stenciled onto its sides.

One stencil says it was “Awarded first premium at World’s Fair” — presumably the 1893 world’s fair held in Chicago. Another Knoll stencil notes its 1889 and 1894 patent dates. Knoll later created and patented a spring frame bicycle and rack.

A circa 1930s photo shows a business sign bearing the logo of The American Agricultural Chemical Co. (AACC), displayed at an authorized fertilizer dealership in Lebanon County.

This authorized dealer in American Agricultural Chemical Company fertilizers displays a 167-pound bag of AGRICO potatoes, which apparently produced higher yields thanks to receiving the proper soil nutrients.

An unknown gentleman assumed to be the local business’s owner stands under the sign with a 167- pound bag of Agrico potatoes — presumably reflecting an abundant crop attributable to the fertilizer.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Weekly recap of your favorite B section columns, recipes and kids’ content.

Camp Mount Gretna is highlighted in an exhibit of mementos at the Mount Gretna Area Historical Society along with the society’s new book, “Camp Mount Gretna, Stories of Fun and Faith.”

Many popular convenience stores like Wawa, Sheetz and Turkey Hill got their starts as dairies.

Thanks to quartermasters' records, historians are piecing together a more accurate picture of the Liberty Bell's journey through the Pennsylvania countryside during the Revolutionary War.

Sue Bowman is a freelance writer in southeastern Pennsylvania.