THE WORLD'S GREATEST IMPORTING ESTABLISHMENT. MAIN BARNS OF THE HOLBERT HORSE IMPORTING CO. A.S. HOLBERT, PROPRIETOR. GREELEY, DELAWARE COUNTY, IOWA. [caption title below image]

Milwaukee, WI: The Gugler Litho. Co., nd [ca.1885]. Color lithograph, 19 x 27 inches [image], on a 24 x 32 inch sheet. The Illustration shows several multi-colored barns of the Holbert Horse Importing Company, with their roofs and walls lettered with advertisements for their services as importers of Percherons, Belgians, and English Shires, as well as supplies of draft, coach, and hackney horses. In the yard in front of the barns, groups of horses stand with their red-shirted trainers, as potential buyers in top hats and bowlers examine them. Aaron B. Holbert (1853-?) established his horse breeding and importing business in Greeley, Iowa, in 1878; the enterprise grew to have an international reputation in the field of breeding and selling registered horses in the United States (cf. John Merry's "History of Delaware County, Iowa," Chicago, 1914, vol. I, pp. 281-282). Henry Gugler and his son Julius joined the firm of Henry Seifert in Milwaukee in 1872, taking charge of the lithography department and bringing the first steam power press to that city (Jay Last "The Color Explosion," Santa, Ana, Cal., 2005, pp. 88-89). They formed their own firm of H. Gugler & Son in Milwaukee in 1878, and when Henry died in 1883, Julius and his brothers created Gugler Lithographic Company. Apparently not located on OCLC. Just a few spots of foxing, otherwise a nice bright image. (9831). Item #61996

Price: $2,750.00