Alexander Stoddart
source: http://www.pensapedia.com/wiki/Fairnie_Hill_Place
Life and Death,
or how to
Secure Health
and
Avoid Sickness
1868
.
The following is added for fast read and amusement purposes.
This pamphlet was written in 1868, by Alexander Stoddart of Southern New York, the founder and manager of the New York Underwriters Agency.
Stoddart’s work set the stage for some of the events I cover on other pages.
1872 was the year for medical cartographers. Enough data had been pulled together for some very interesting national maps to be made. With the United States about to undergo still more expansion now that the Civil War was over, and with technology playing an important role in everything we accomplished as a nation spread between two oceans, the goal of large companies was to begin developing a nationwide market for many industries. The Golden age had begun: 1870-1890.
Source:
The insurance industry had an increased in numbers of companies formed following the war. Now was the time for these companies to improve their income. In 1871, a severe fire struck Chicago and nearly produced bankruptcy for some companies. With security of their financial holdings re-established, the insurance market would soon take off, and two years later produce some of the best studies of disease distributions within the United States.
The reasons insurance companies took stock in the health of their customers was simple. They needed to encourage your investments, and for your to agree to keep those investments with them for a very long time. To increase your likelihood of doing this, they told you how to stay healthy and live longer, how to avoid accidents, and how to get the best out of your life in your older years.
This book is designed for people who were curious about obtaining life insurance following the Civil War.
Back then, life insurance was not at all like it is today when we use these words. It was essentially an annuity. You invested some money into it at the very beginning, and then made a regular payment on the policy, usually for a very small amount and on a yearly basis. As you got older, you watched as the money accrued interest over the years. Once you were older, you cashed in on that investment.
To better your chances of making it further in life, to obtain the best capital from your initial investment, you were handed this book, produced by the manager of the nation’s Underwriter’s Agency.
It had instructions on how to live longer and stay alive, even surviving beyond the norms perhaps when it came to old age. This pamphlet essentially contained the rules for a long and prosperous life.
The Google eBook this item comes was a hand-bound collection of pamphlets and booklets. Inside its front cover was the following table of contents.
Contents of book/item entitled “Pamphlets on insurance” at Google Books
.
Finally, I have to note – – – there are no pages missing from this presentation!!!
The pages are numbered just as odd numbers. This is because the left pages (even numbers) contained only a single line “Life and Death” placed in the middle of the page. This could be for promotional reasons. For example, this layout made it possible for the pamphlet to be taken apart and each page posted side by side on a bulletin board in the workplace.
The source for this pamphlet is Google Books, via this link. You have to scroll through this Google Book to get to item No. 6, which is pretty well through much of this eBook.
Searching for other items with Stoddard mention, I could only find one for this time frame. It is Fire Insurance: A Book of Instructions for the Use of Agents in the United States, by Charles Cole Hine, the copyrights for which were obtained by Stoddard, according to the copyrights filing page.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Brian Altonen, MPH, MS 