Burpee's mail order catalog sold chickens when it was first introduced in 1876 by eighteen-year-old Washington Atlee Burpee, a child prodigy chicken breeder. Soonafter, Burpee added chicken feed, then vegetable and flower seeds, for which the catalog is famous. By the 1890s, Burpee of Philadelphia owned the world's largest garden seed and plant catalog. While their catalogs are now made up of full-color photographs, they started out using wholesome painted and drawn black and white and colored images which sell well on eBay.
Sources:
- http://www.burpee.com
- AtTheCrossroads, Daily Trivia Question for April 16, 2001: http://www.atthecrossroads.com