Item Info

Items 1-3, lefthand side:  These three images relate to the services provided by the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia, beginning in 1877.  In order to provide city children who had tuberculosis with a day out in the fresh air, they were ferried by steamboats to an outdoor playground, from Philadelphia to Windmill Island in the Delaware River (between 1877 and 1886), and later to a new location established at Red Bank Avenue & Front Street, NJ, on the east bank of the Delaware River (between 1886 and 1920s).  While its original mission changed after the health crisis died down in the 1920s, the playground continued to provide children with a day of outdoor recreation away from the city.  The top and bottom images show two of the Sanitarium's steamboats, the John E. Smith and the Elizabeth Monroe Smith, traveling to the Red Bank facility; and the center image shows a group of passengers returning to Philadelphia, after a day at the facility. Reproductions of photoengravings by Levy-TypeCo.Phila., for an unidentified publication, each measuring 14.5 x 11 cm, c. 1920.  [To see a photograph of the Red Bank Sanitarium, see the previous item record, #pdcc03209.]

Items 4-7, top right:  Four topical cards from the "Game of Philadelphia" (1831)--or "History of Philadelphia" (1872)--card game, created by author Eliza Leslie. It was a rummy-like derivative using facts about Philadelphia, grouped in sets (or "books"), this group being about caves.  When the first British colonists landed in Philadelphia, even ahead of William Penn's arrival in 1682, many dug caves into the high embankments along the Delaware River, between Vine Street and South Street, until they could build their houses.  Interesting facts on these playing cards include descriptions of the caves' locations, construction, and even the birth of John Key (1682-1767), said to be the first British baby born in colonial Philadelphia.  Four playing cards from a history-themed card game, each measuring 5.2 x 7.3 cm, c. 1831.  [Note: This game was originally published in 1831, followed by a later edition, revised and renamed, in 1872.  The cards in this image appear to be a slightly edited reprinting of the earlier edition, as evidenced by a few minor differences.]