1945 Berry Seed Co.

I bought a seed catalogue a few years ago, while antiquing with my mom.  At the time, I bought it because my last name is Berry, and I loved the graphic design of the cover.  My husband and I also enjoy gardening, and he farms... so I couldn't pass it up.  Once home, I looked through, and found it to be an interesting piece of American history.  I've kept it stashed away until now...

This letter, written by J.F. Sinn, the President of Berry Seed Company,
was written before the end of WWII.  You can read it by left clicking
on the image and then enlarging it to full size.

This was the order form enclosed in the catalogue.

Here's some interesting history about the town of
Clarinda, Iowa, and Berry Seed Company:

The best known national firm in Clarinda for many decades was Berry's Seed Company, a mail order farm seed distribution business founded in 1885 at Clarinda by A. A. Berry. Berry's Seed Company diversified into retail stores in the 1950s, but the stores were sold off over the following decade, and today the company, known as Berry's Garden Center, operates from its one remaining retail outlet in Danville, Illinois.

In 1943 during World War II, an internment camp designed for 3,000 prisoners of war with sixty barracks and a 150-bed hospital was built in Clarinda. German prisoners were the first to arrive at Camp Clarinda, followed in 1945 by Italian and Japanese POWs.

I hope you've enjoyed this 1945 Berry Seed Co. catalogue, as I
have.  Graphics in this post are free for your personal use.
Thanks for stopping by!

Heavenly Blue...

"Forget-me-nots and violets
heavenly blue, Spring, glittering with
the cheerful drops like dew."

~ N. Mueller ~

3 forget-me-not journal cards, 3x4 inches:

Printable with 6 cards and poem:

Here are the free graphics 

sources used in my artwork:

*Little Birdie Blessings*

Forget-me-nots and ivy

*Lost and Taken*

Diamond pattern texture

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

*Lilac & Lavender*

Oval frame

"Starred forget-me-nots

smile sweetly, Ring, blue-bells, ring!

Winning eye and heart completely,

Sing, robin, sing!"

~ Sarah F. Davis ~

Thanks for stopping by!!

Memory of the Heart

"Gratitude is
the memory of the heart."

~ Jean Baptiste Massieu ~

 Dark pink rose in original color

 Dark pink rose ~ tinted blue

 Yellow rose in original color

Yellow rose ~ tinted aqua

I hope you enjoy my rose & "I am thankful for..." cards!
Bundle together to give to a friend, or attach to the front of a
 journal to record what you're thankful for each day...

Here are links to the free
rose graphics & font I used:

*Vintage Images*
Dark pink rose by Catherine Klein
Yellow rose by Catherine Klein

*Dafont.com*
Jane Austen

Please note that the images with
"I am thankful for..." in Jane Austen font
are for personal use only.  Thank you!!

Have a blessed day!
Thanks for stopping by!

Be Grateful for...

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way;
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day;
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do,
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom; 
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

~ Edgar Guest ~

Postcard ~ 4 x 5.5 inches

What are you
grateful for today?


Here are the free graphics I used
to create the pretty postcard image:

*Vintage Feedsacks*
Beautiful roses by Redouté 

*Lilac & Lavender*
Back of postcard
(Miss Edith's address was from the original)
Butterfly PNG images

*The Sum of All Crafts*
Delicate rectangular frame



This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

~ Psalm 118:24 ~

Rewards of the simple life...

"To find the universal elements enough;
to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk or an
 evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars
at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or
a wildflower in spring: these are some
of the rewards of the simple life." 

~ John Burroughs ~

Journal card ~ approx. 3 x 3 inches

Printable ~ journal cards & 2.5" round graphics

Journal card ~ approx. 4 x 5 inches

  Journal card ~ approx. 3 x 5 inches

Here are some cards for your journals,
scrapbooks, etc.!  Love how all the pastels play
off each other... and love the English cottage...
where I'd imagine one might enjoy some of the
rewards of the simple life!

Here are the  free graphics &
sources used in my artwork:

*TuckDB postcards*
English cottage scene
Catherine Klein roses

*The Sum of All Crafts*
Delicate rectangular frame

*The Graphics Fairy*
Round apothecary label

*Lilac & Lavender*
"Antiqued" lined paper

Have fun creating, and
thanks for stopping by!