gave oatmeal a run for its money in those days, until Quaker Oats scooped it up in the mid-1920's. An 1897 ad assured the customer that it was made from only the finest Pacific Coast wheat, with all the nerve and strength-giving qualities carefully retained.

In about 25 years all those elm trees lining E street will die from Dutch elm disease

To the list of interesting things Shorpy commenters love to note about street scenes, you can add to horses and wagons and electric cars and horse apples and mysterious objects at the curb and intriguing configurations of streetcar tracks: children wandering aimlessly in the road.

It will always rise to the occasion.

Some Shorpyite will surely know what that cast-iron pot is on the curb to the left. Only thing I can think of is that it's a receptacle for folks picking up after their horses.

[It's a fire hydrant, as seen in the comments under this post from 2008. - Dave]

Who knew? And it helps with poison ivy.

Somehow that "High Grade Butter and Cheese" sign makes my mouth water. I'll bet the flavors were better than we get today.

Near the curb, to the left of the image, is a once commonplace city streetside fixture, but now a highly collectable piece of ephemera--a horse spittoon!

Ah, but I jest.

This is actually a small flip-top fire hydrant. Here is an image featuring the same type at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. website: D.C. hydrant

At aforementioned website, you can enter 'hydrant' under Keyword Search to discover additional images of the flip-top hydrant, including at least one image showing one 'flipped'.

Pearline was a powdered soap (thanks, Google) Best By Test was their tagline and they really pushed it.