Birmingham Brass Catalogue

Birmingham, Englad was known as the first manufacturing town in the world and played a central role in the manufacturing and production of trade catalogs. Trade catalogs emerged as a new and effective way to market industrial design to the masses while competing with rival firms. This brass trade catalog used detailed engravings to sell a diverse group of mass-produced metal products. As one of the earliest examples of a trade catalog, and rarest in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonia Design Library, it contains images of more than eight hundred brass hardware and decorative objects in a variety of patterns: furniture handles, casters, escutcheons, screws, rosettes, keys, locks, hinges, and brackets.