Can Label, Olney & Floyd Butterfly, Boston Marrow Squash, Lithograph, Antique

Before the grocery store. Before the supermarket. Before the can aisle existed at all — someone printed these by hand, one color at a time.

This is an original vegetable can label — a turn-of-the-century stone lithograph for Butterfly Brand Boston Marrow Squash, by Olney & Floyd. It has never been used. Never wrapped a can. It is New Old Stock in excellent mint condition.

This label dates to 1899–1900, and the absence of weight markings — required by law from around 1906 — confirms it was printed before that requirement existed. It is among the oldest labels you will find anywhere, and among the largest: at 14.0 by 4.5 inches, it is a generous, wide-format piece that shows everything the best stone lithographers of the era could do with space.

One face of the label is devoted to the butterfly: large, detailed, rendered in rich browns, golds, and blues — a botanical illustration in the Victorian tradition, treated with the same seriousness a naturalist would give it. The other face shows a Boston Marrow squash in yellow and brown, painted with the accuracy of a field guide. Both sides are works of genuine craft. The first offset lithographic press for paper was not produced until 1903. This label was made entirely by hand, stone by stone, color by color — the process that could take three to four months per design. A companion label — the Olney & Floyd Electric Brand succotash label (DC120) from the same maker — is also available in our shop. One available.

Frame it as Victorian natural history art, as early Americana, as a piece of 19th-century entomology illustration that happened to wrap a squash can, or simply as one of the oldest and most beautiful labels in our entire collection. At 14.0 by 4.5 inches it suits a wide narrow frame and commands any wall that earns it.

A wonderful gift for a Victorian naturalist, a butterfly enthusiast, an advertising ephemera collector, or anyone who appreciates that the nineteenth century made things with a care and patience we have mostly lost.

A note on can label collecting: Original lithographic can labels from this era are far scarcer than crate labels — produced in smaller quantities, more fragile, and less often preserved. NOS examples like this one represent the finest of what survives from American food industry history.

• Brand: Butterfly Brand / Olney & Floyd
• Type: Vegetable can label — stone lithograph
• Made in: USA
• Dated: 1899–1900 (pre-1906, no weight markings)
• Dimensions: 14.0" wide | 4.5" tall
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS) — unused, excellent mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing consistent with period. Please review all photos carefully — we cannot accept returns.
• Framing: Ideal for a wide narrow frame — ready to display