Meek Stock No 92 "The City Cousin"

General
No. 92 is probably the most openly sentimental design in the catalogue up to this point, although a several other sentimental designs come later. We have seen this design with a paper label affixed on the back with the following text (unfortunately the label was damaged and only partially legible):

“The City Cousin” is a really wonderful reproduction of…in. painted by Carl Hirschberg of Buffalo, wh…American home life have become so popular. Mr. Hirschberg…children’s story pictures and this is unquestionably…most fetching he has ever painted. The little he…paying her country cousins a visit. The charm of the… conscious expression of the little lady and her faithful…lent admiration of her manly cousins. One who cannot…in this delightful scene is indeed…"

Unlike most of the external artists Meek (and later American Art Works) engaged, Carl Hirschberg (1854-1923) was an establish player in the later 19th and early 20th century art scene. Born in Germany, Hirschberg became a genre and figure painter as well as illustrator. He received his training at the Art Students League in New York and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, studying with Alexandre Cabanel and Jules Lefebvre. Eventually he settled in Kent, Connecticut. He was a prominent figure in the American art movement who founded the Salmagundi Club and was also an organizer of the Student Arts League. The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, was (and still is) a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. The Salmagundi Club has served as a center for fine arts, artists and collectors, with art exhibitions, art classes, artist demonstrations, art auctions and many other types of events. As of 2021, its membership roster totals roughly 1,100 members. Hirschberg was married to Alice Hirschberg who contributed two other designs to the catalog, No. 101 (Sunshine) and No. 103 (Introduction).

Size & Shape
As a tray No. 92 almost always shows up as a 13.5" x 13.5" square, although we do have record of 2 examples of 10.5" x 13.5" small oblongs and a few square shaped signs. Rims are green and carry gold advertising text. At this point in the overall catalog, printing on the face of the design has become increasingly rare.

Hager & Price
Hager does not discuss this design other than to place its introduction in 1908; he does include it in his catalog. Brewery examples are less common with this design and tend to have strong prices. Liquor and ice cream examples also tend to do fairly well, although not as well as breweries. Stock samples and retailer examples tend to sport fairly weak prices. For some reason most examples of this design are in only fair or even poor condition.