Pet Companies of Yesteryear

Interesting ad for the R.T. French Company on the problem of obtaining live canaries during WWII. French’s used movie stars who owned canaries in their advertising (and yes, it’s the ...

An advertisement from the R.T. French Company (makers of French's Mustard) during wartime (WWII) asking for people to "breed more canaries" to make up for the gap in imports during ...

The birth of the tropical fish industry in Florida in 1934. From Florida Tropical Fish Farms Association's Convention Pamphlet, October 1983 ...

A two page spread in the October 1974 issue of Aquarium Industry showcasing pet company booths at the NAPI 20th anniversary show ...

Flyer for Greater Miami Fisheries in Opa Locka, Florida – “Miami’s Largest Fish Breeders” ...

A postcard advertising a “self-sustaining aquarium” from the famous New York bird store of George Holden. The aquarium looks like a “Peerless” made of aluminum sometime between 1900-1920 ...

A two-page spread of Justrite Pet Foods product line from their 1941 catalog ...

1940's Rival Dog and Cat Food flyer stating that during WW2 the plant was converted to making canned human food for the war effort ...

A rare old price list from the 1920s for "J.H. Cummings Aquariists and Collectors" of North Carolina. Check out the reptiles on this price list ...

Seven catalog pages of great mid-century modern style Hendryx Cages and Stands. From the 1959-1960 edition of Pet Dealer's Supply Co. Buyer's Guide (for pet shops) ...

Thank you to our friend Lee Finley for providing images of this 1947 Longlife catalog in his collection. He shared with us that it is one sheet which measures 6 ...

When it comes to selling dry stock at Ed's Tropical Aquarium, Inc., a Long Island-based chain operation, the name of the game is "display." And the game plan revolves largely ...

The article was originally from the September-October 1958 edition of TROPICALS Magazine ...

"The pet industry is 'wide open' for the man with ideas and the will to carry them out." The young man expounding this philosophy from the New Jersey headquarters for ...

The myriad of Tom Swift books, written in the early 1900s, are now folklore - Tom Swift and his Incredible Flying Machine, Tom Swift and his Electric Submarine - and ...

AS I WAS CLEARING OUT OLD MAGAZINES I came across a picture from a 35-year-old Pet Business article that reminded me of a company called Metaframe. For a time it ...

An uncommon BECO catalog showing the bird products they manufactured. Notice they made an entire plastic bird cage in four design models. BECO stood for the “Bernard Edward Company,” and ...

EARLY AQUARIUM AD FROM 1856! An advertisement from The Lancet Central Advertiser of London dated November 1856. The is a very early ad for aquariums and fern cases (terrariums). Notice ...

The Wardley Corporation was founded by Edward Levey in 1950. Prior to establishing the corporation, Edward worked for his sister Frances, who had inherited the Harold Pet Supply Company ...

Series of ads in the June 1955 Tropical Fish Magazine advertising the merging of Adco, Metaframe, and Mastercraft Company ...

Product catalog for Wardley's fish products from 1968/1969 ...

Ads for the grand opening of the Aquarium Stock Company’s second store in Hollywood, CA in March 1948. The ad was published in the 1948 Aquarium Journal ...

Bader Industries was the “Metaframe of the East” in regards to manufacturing stainless steel aquariums in the 1960s. In this attached 1967 catalog Bader shows illustrations of their terrariums, aquariums, ...

Currently, the Metaframe company, and especially their “stainless steel aquariums of the 1960s” are all the rage among aquarium hobbyist (and non-hobbyist) collectors out there. In fact, Facebook has a ...

This is an interesting 4 page catalog published during the mod 1960s era for pet products. I have never heard of the company R. H. McElheney, Inc., but they state ...

Metaframe is beyond a doubt the most well recognized aquarium manufacture in the United States. When they started in 1931 they were named the “Metal Frame Aquarium Company” and the ...

Harrods Department Store in London, England, is Europe's largest store. It is also probably the most complete one in the world. Harrods provides anything from a haircut, to a honeymoon, ...

Sunnyland Fish Farm from the February 1954 issue of The Aquarium ...

Lowe’s was the first company to commercially produce a very popular cat product called “Kitty Litter.” As we dig deeper into the MOAPH archives we will update the history of ...

My neighbor, Randy, used to own a tropical fish store in the 1960s in Los Angeles, California. When he finally closed his shop he kept only 3 items. These were ...

Penn-Plax is a third generation company with a rich history. Their jewel box aquarium ornaments are prized collector items, and the museum is lucky to have several ads in their ...

When business at Gateway Aquatics grew to $12,000 annual gross in 1972 owner, Frank Barrett decided it was no longer a hobby. He bought four acres on the edge of ...

What's in a name? The answer, of course, depends on your point of reference, but for anyone in the aquarium industry, the name Willinger was once ubiquitous ...

A show business cliche argues that there is no such thing as an overnight success. It contends that stars who seem to make it with one picture have been around ...

Mel Juster, Senior Vice President of Metaframe announced that his firm will renew sponsorship of the popular Public Television show, Guppies to Groupers ...

Geisler Pet Products; a full-page ad published in 1965 for Geisler Pet Products. The ad shows a photograph of one of their earliest pet stores in Omaha, Nebraska. Notice the ...

Canary Capital---Keep 'Em Peeping Milwaukee, WI--The chirp of hundreds of canaries would probably drive the average person into the street holding his ears, but to the employees of The Petpak ...