Details
Contributor Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), 1836-1911 Mikado.
Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900 Mikado.
Donaldson Brothers (Firm), printer.
Title Yum-Yum. [graphic].
Publisher New York : Donaldson Brothers
Date [ca. 1880]
Physical Description 1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 8 x 12 cm (3 x 4.5 in.)
Description Racist trade card promoting thread manufacturer J. & P. Coats and depicting a character from The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, the opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the white woman actress in character as Yum-Yum. She sits on an oversized spool of thread labeled, "J & P. Coats 200 yds 50 best six cord," and holds a white spool of thread in her left hand. She wears her hair up and decorated with small red, blue, and yellow fans and is attired in a blue, yellow, and white patterned kimono. A building and some palm trees by the water are in the background. The moon reads, " J & P. Coats best six cord." Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”
Notes Title from item.
Date deduced from the history of the advertised business.
Text printed on recto: "We've Coats' spool cotton, that's the reason why we're very wide awake, the moon and I."
Advertising text printed on verso: White, black and colors for hand and machine. J & P. Coats' Best Six Cord Thread.
Subject J. & P. Coats.
Actresses.
Japanese -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Japonism.
Kimonos.
Operas & operettas.
Orientalism.
Racism in popular culture.
Yellowface.
Women.
Thread.
Thread industry -- England.
AAPI.
Women.
Genre Chromolithographs -- 1870-1880.
Trade cards -- 1870-1880.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Trade Cards - J. & P. Coats [P.2024.38.4]
Accession number P.2024.38.4

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