Emma V. White

Lippincott’s great success in a business long dominated by men may have prompted two other women – Emma V. White and Jessie R. Prior – to start similar businesses in Minneapolis.  In 1896, while Lippincott’s business was thriving, Emma V. White published her first catalog.  White used the phrase “Choice Flower Seeds” on her marketing materials.  Her catalogs had the same look and feel as Lippincott’s, although some had a more whimsical flavor with “Tom Thumb” figures playfully scattered about.