My first merchant card. Pre Civil War. E. Long St. Louis, MO.
thisistheshow
Posts: 9,386 ✭✭✭✭✭
We've all heard the expression "God helps those who help themselves." Even if you are not a religious person, you can understand it. Afaik, this expression actually is first seen in ancient Greek texts. Benjamin Franklin was fond of it. It has universal appeal and meaning.
What does this have to do with my post? Well, I have noticed that the more I learn about collecting, coins, and exonumia, and the more patient I am in my searches, the more opportunities which are put in front of me - despite my severely anemic budget.
Case in point being how I found this token. I was at an LCS, enjoying some conversation, casually going through a small lot of tokens. I was enjoying the tokens, but tokens are not an area I have yet pursued very much. I had already picked out some nice circulation cameo Barber coins, and most of my small budget was spent for the day. I had already asked the price on three tokens, and had been told $2.50 per piece. I was seeing arcade tokens, tax tokens, transportation tokens, etc. And then I saw this. It was out of place. And it was also $2.50. Great! 
Despite the fact that I try to cherry pick cheap examples of whatever I am collecting, I did not intend for my first pre Civil War merchant card to be one in such poor condition. I saw there were some very nice examples online that sold for around $100. But you have to start somewhere.
I PM'd my friend @DCW to ask his guidance. He suggested I keep it, being as I got it for a steal, and that I perhaps start a thread on Mr E. Long. So here we are... 😉
Enoch Long and his brother, Horatio H. Long, were masters of the daguerreotype- which was an early form of photography. They both moved to St Louis in the mid 1840s after having studied and perfected the young art form in Philadelphia. In 1846 they opened the Long Brothers Studio. By 1850, they had separate studios- Enoch at Fourth and Market, Horatio at Third and Market.
Horatio died in 1851, but Enoch continued to work. In 1853, his work was displayed as part of the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York alongside others who were seen as masters of the photographic arts.
In 1861, Enoch moved to Benton Barracks, home of an enormous Union Army training facility. Up to 30,000 soldiers were there training at any given time, and many were eager to be photographed proudly in their military ensembles. Here is a photo of Enoch in front of one of the backdrops he used at Benton Barracks. 
Long later ran a photographic supply company before retiring.
He died in 1898 in Quincy, Illinois.
I will most likely someday get a nicer version of this token, and I will have to find this thread and bump it. Until then, I will stay on the hunt. Thanks for reading!
Edited because I accidentally used bold on some text.
Comments
Unique find!
Nice store card and interesting bit of history... Thanks for the backstory....Cheers, RickO
Nice token. Great price.
Excellent write up, Eric!
Isnt it great how a junk box find can lead us down the path to understanding history? Such is the world of exonumia! The real "value" of the piece is the enjoyment in research. Uncovering the mystery of its use, the background of the issuer.
Only then can you really appreciate the tangible connection to the past that you have in your hands.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Great find! Thanks for sharing its history.
ANA-LM, CWTS-LM, NBS, TAMS, ANS
I love that token and its connection to early photo processes. Thanks for the write up and photos. I see on the backdrop what appears to be an "Eads Ironclad" which saw a lot of use on the rivers in the Western theater. Parts of one of them, the Cairo, have been salvaged and are on display.
Thank you all for the positive comments.
Nothing beats a nice token with a history lesson!
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers
Bob