Details
Title J. & P. Coats thread. Come in Topsey out of the rain. You’ll get wet. Oh! it won’t hurt me missy I’m like Coats black thread de color won’t come off by wettin [graphic].
Publisher [United States] : [publisher not identified]
Publisher UNITED STATES. 1880
Date [ca. 1880]
Physical Description 1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 8 x 11 cm (3 x 4 in.)
Description Racist trade card promoting J.&. P. Coats thread and depicting a caricature of an African American woman domestic washing outside in the rain. Shows an African American woman in the left, attired in a white, short-sleeved shirt, a white and yellow checked apron, a red skirt, and black shoes. She stands outside in the rain and places her right hand on an oversized spool of thread labeled, “J.&P. Coats best six cord 200 yds 40,” which sits on top of a wooden stool. Behind the woman, a pipe fills a wooden wash tub with water. In the right, a blonde-haired, white woman, attired in a blue dress with a white collar and bow tie and a red sash below the waist, white stockings, and black shoes, stands at the door inside the house. She lifts her right hand to the domestic and says, “come in Topsey out of the rain. You’ll get wet.” The African American woman replies in the vernacular, “Oh! It won’t hurt me Missy. I’m like Coats black thread. De color won’t come off by wettin.” 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.
Advertising text printed on verso: Fast Black Spool Cotton. Does it wear? Does it wash? When a textile fabric must be dyed a pure, rich, deep black, the question that presents itself to the dyer is: “Will these goods be washed in ordinary soap and water, or will they be dipped in some powerful acid, like aquafortis, sulphuric, or muriatic acid?” It they must withstand every-day wear and tear; he will not be so foolish as to fix his black by aid of powerful acids, but will treat the goods mildly, and thus secure superior strength and endurance. In like manner, a druggist will not put a rubber stopper in a bottle filled with sugar and water; he will naturally use an ordinary cork, and save the rubber for resisting violent acids. It is well to look with suspicion on all Acid Tests applied to Spool Cotton. To resist acids, the dyer must use acids at peril of rotting the thread. Intelligent people do not wash their clothes in acid baths. J. & P. Coats’ Black will hold its color as long as any fabric on which it can be used.
Gift of David Doret.
Subject J. & P. Coats.
African American household employees -- Caricatures and cartoons.
African American women -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Laundry.
Racism in popular culture.
Rain.
Thread.
Thread industry -- England.
Wash tubs.
Genre Chromolithographs -- 1870-1880.
Trade cards -- 1870-1880.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Goldman Trade Card Collection - J. & P. Coats [P.2017.95.88]
Accession number P.2017.95.88

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