Mugs
Description: Have you ever wanted to cosplay as Hillary Page from the Fables, Fairest, and Jack of Fables comics series by Bill Willingham? Or are you just a hot librarian in your own right? If you're blonde with a bob and glasses, this may be the cheapest, easiest cosplay costume you'll ever come across!
Description: This design comes from the key map and index page of the 1924 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois. Sanborn maps were used by fire insurance companies to determine the fire risk to a given property based on it's construction materials, usage, proximity to other structures, water supplies, and firefighting services. Perhaps because of the potential for prairie fires, this map volume noted the prevailing wind direction.
Description: Sanborn fire insurance maps are not just a record of the built environment, but of the people who lived there as well. A wood frame dwelling may have a wood frame outbuilding in back that held the homeowner's carpentry business. The decade in which "auto houses" were added to properties gives us clues about the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood. Whether a business employed a night watchman would be notated on the maps and tells us how concerned the owner was about fire, theft, or sabotage.
Description: This design is adapted from the Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Eureka from 1900. Sanborn maps are an incredibly detailed resource showing the location of buildings, the materials used in their construction, and their usage. This information was used to determine a property's risk of being destroyed by fire - now it's used by curious homeowners and historians alike.
Description: Chicago's editions of the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps were spread out across dozens of volumes, each containing hundreds of map sheets - sadly, several volumes are "lost", though many are available online through the Library of Congress, Chicago Public Library, and many universities. All of these maps were hand-drawn. They are an essential historical resource showing the location and construction of every dwelling, business, outbuilding, and city facility in existence at the time the maps were researched and drawn - you might be surprised at what used to be located where your dwelling is!
Description: Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are an important historical resource for American cities. These hand-drawn maps provide unparalleled information and are the foundation of digital maps of today. Eureka is no exception and the 1889 edition of the Sanborn map indicates the placement of dwellings, businesses, and outbuildings as well as the materials they were built from. You might even be able to find your house!
Description: For the dedicated thrifter, the one whose bargain-finding abilities border on the supernatural. The one who zeroes in on the unlikely corners where outstanding second hand finds hide. The one who texts you in the middle of the day saying "You know that thing you collect? I found one at the thrift shop, do you want it?"
Description: Are you a thrift store junkie? A bargain hunting queen? Do you have the "tag color of the day" discounts at your local thrift stores memorized? Do you shuffle through the shelves of dishes looking for the same coffee cups your grandma had, or dig through the racks to find designer castoffs? This design is for you, either on a shirt, mug, sticker, or shopping bag to carry your thrifting finds!
