This week's Hagley Vault delivery comes with a side of old beef; the reverse side of this photograph, taken on February 23, 1897, notes that Raynor had "reputation of being a fast talker and a short weigher".
Raynor & Bro. was a butcher shop that operated out of a storefront at 4465 Frankford Ave. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's Frankford neighborhood. Raynor & Bro. was founded and operated by Orlando Raynor (1851-1908) and Samuel Webster C. Raynor (1853-1910). On February 10, 1853, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported brothers were charged with peddling "bogus butter" for having been busted by detectives from the National Dairymen's Association for selling oleomargarine without paying appropriate taxes and licenses to do so.
This photograph was taken in the mill village of Cedar Grove, around two miles away from the Raynor & Bro. business, which delivered to the village on a weekly basis. The mill village was located in what is now the Olney neighborhood of the city.
This image comes from Hagley Library's Whitaker family photographs (Accession 1982.253) collection. The Whitaker family of Philadelphia founded and operated William Whitaker & Sons, Inc. in Cedar Grove, one of the oldest Philadelphia textile mills.
The Cedar Grove Mills came to specialize in mattress ticking, which was the principal product line from the 1840s until World War II. During the Civil War the firm manufactured woolen blankets for the war effort. In 1876 the Whitakers expanded into carpet manufacture through the purchase of the Tremont Carpet Mills in Frankford. After World War II the firm went into decline as the mattress ticking business moved south. The mills closed for the last time in 1970.
The collection contains photographs related to the family of William Whitaker (1813-1878) and buildings and bridges in and around Cedar Grove, Pennsylvania, and other parts of what was then, or what is now, Philadelphia.
To view the collection online now in our Digital Archives, just click here.