Images(4)

Portrait photograph of Joseph H. Rosell, Jr., ca. 1900. MCHA Archives.

Whitall, Tatum & Co., catalog pages illustrating show globes, dated 1897.

Pair of Show Globes

Maker Whitall, Tatum & Co.

Periodca. 1890 - 1900

MediumCast metal, colorless glass, and colored water

Dimensions40.25 × 11 × 11 in. (102.2 × 27.9 × 27.9 cm)

ClassificationsAdvertising, Business & Ornamental Artifacts

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Joseph H. Rosell, 1943

Object number1881

DescriptionA pair of drug store show globes that are ovoid in shape. The colorless glass globes fit into tripod-shaped stands with hoofed feet along with acanthus-molded legs and tripod arms. The top of each glass is sealed with a cork. A metal collar in a pierced shield and leaf pattern fits over the cork. One globe contains dark blue tinted water, and the other bright yellow.
Curatorial RemarksShow globes are glass vessels containing a colorful liquid. It has been used as a symbol of pharmacies and druggists since the seventeenth century in England. Show globes became especially popular in the United States, and in other English speaking countries, contrasting wtih the wider use of the mortar and pestle as a pharmaceutical symbol. Once proudly displayed in store windows with a light behind them, by the early twentieth century these colorful trade signs had fallen out of fashion. Through the 1950s, one industry publication entitled American Druggist urged pharmacists to bring them back as they were "the greatest trademark ever invented." The design of these show globes or jars appears in an 1897 glass manufacturer's catalog from Whitall, Tatum & Co. of Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey. Whitall, Tatum became a very large producer of glassware, including pharmacist's bottles, jars, glass insulators for use on power and communications lines, laboratory equipment, and decorative wares such as show globes used mainly by druggists. The origins of the firm dated back to 1806. The company went through many name changes until 1857 when it became Whitall, Tatum & Co. Armstrong Cork purchased the business in 1938. After passing through several other owners, glass production at the plant in Millville ceased in 1999, ending 193 years of nearly continuous operation.NotesThe pair of show globes came from the drugstore of Joseph H. Rosell, Jr., in Freehold, Monmouth County. Rosell was born in Freehold on 28 January 1858, the son of Joseph H. Rosell, Sr., and Elizabeth Bowering. After receiving his early education at the Freehold Academy and Freehold Institute, he attended and was graduated from the New York College of Pharmacy, which later became part of Columbia University. After clerking in several drug stores in Plainfield, New Brunswick and Freehold, Rosell opened his own establishment on 14 February 1885 at the corner of West Main and Throckmorton Streets in the St. Peter's Church building. He maintained his business there for fifty-three years until his death on 22 January 1938, just short of his eightieth birthday. On the occasion of Rosell's fiftieth anniversary in business in 1935, the editor of the Monmouth Democrat stated that "When Mr. Rosell began his own business, he established his reputation, and is one of the most respected and loved men in Freehold. He is one of the few druggists left in the country, who confines his business primarily to drugs and associated supplies." Joseph H. Rosell, Jr., was married on 1 January 1885 to Fannie Goldsmith by the Rev. Thomas Cullen, Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. They became the parents of two daughters. Rosell's funeral was attended by people from every part of the borough. Places of business in town were closed during the hours of the service. The flag on the post office building was also flown at half mast during the day.

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