Details
Contributor National Bank Note Company, printer.
Title Spoiling the slide [graphic] : Clarence Brooks & Co. fine coach varnishes cor. West & West 12th Sts. New York.
Publisher New York : National Bank Note Co
Publisher N.Y. New York. 1880
Date [ca. 1880]
Physical Description 1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 7 x 11 cm (3 x 4.5 in.)
Description Trade card promoting varnish manufacturer Clarence Brooks & Co. and depicting a racist, genre scene of an anguished-looking African American man clerk “spoiling the slide” on a snow-covered sidewalk. Shows the man, attired in a blue shirt; red and yellow striped apron; green pants; and black boots, leaning over and using a scoop and red pan to pour salt onto a bare track in the snow-covered sidewalk outside a storefront. In the near left background, two smiling African American boys throw snowballs at the clerk. The boy in the left, attired in black boots; brown pants; blue jacket and hat; and red scarf around his head, holds a snowball in both hands at his waist. The boy in the right, attired in black boots; blue pants, shirt, and hat; and green jacket pitches back his right arm, snowball in his hand. In the far right of the image, a white boy, attired in brown boots and pants; blue jacket and hat; and a red scarf wrapped over his head and tied under his chin, and his hands in his jacket pockets, walks on the sidewalk. He walks past an iron railing in front of the store that is adorned with a sign reading "Clarence Brooks & Co. Fine Coach Varnishes, Cor. West & West 12th Sts. New York." Clarence Brooks established his varnish business in 1859 as Brooks and Fitzgerald, later Clarence Brooks & Co. In 1881, the firm issued a calendar illustrated with African American caricatures in genre scenes.
Notes Title from item.
Date deduced from history of the advertised business and visual content.
Gift of David Doret.
Library Company holds a duplicate copy [P.2017.95.28].
Subject Clarence Brooks & Co.
African American boys -- Caricatures and cartoons.
African American men -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Boys.
Clerks.
Racism in popular culture.
Snow.
Snowballs.
Throwing.
Varnishing industry -- New York (State) -- New York.
Genre Chromolithographs -- 1870-1880.
Trade cards -- 1870-1880.
Printer National Bank Note Company, printer.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Goldman Trade Card Collection - Clarence [P.2017.95.29]
Accession number P.2017.95.29