| Title |
Use Merrick's thread. "Gully this cotton beats 'em all!" [graphic]. |
| Publisher |
[United States] : [publisher not identified] |
| Publisher |
UNITED STATES. 1885 |
| Date |
[ca. 1885] |
| Physical Description |
1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 13 x 8 cm (5 x 3 in.) |
| Description |
Racist trade card promoting Merrick thread and depicting a domestic scene of an older African American man sewing. Shows the
man, in a cabin setting, seated atop a stool, his feet slightly turned in, and mending the seat of a pair of blue pants. The
man holds th epants in his left hand and pulls a needle and thread through a patch on the pants in his right. The thread comes
from a large spool beside the man which is marked with "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8" logo. Behind the man is a window
with a sill. Plants line the window sill. A candelabrum rests on a shelf attached to the wall below the window. The man is
attired in a red button-down shirt, blue suspenders, brown pants, and brown shoes. Merrick Thread Co. was founded in 1865
by Timothy Merrick, Austin Merrick, and Origen Hall in Mansfield, Connecticut. After its founding, the company established
mills in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1898, the company merged with thirteen other independent thread and yarn manufacturers
to form the American Thread Company.
|
| Notes |
Title from item. |
|
Date inferred from content and genre of print. |
|
Several lines of advertising text printed on verso. Verso is defaced and text is illegible. |
|
Gift of David Doret. |
| Subject |
Merrick Thread Co. |
|
African American men -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Older people. |
|
Sewing. |
|
Thread industry -- Massachusetts -- Holyoke. |
| Genre |
Racism in popular culture. |
|
Thread. |
|
Chromolithographs -- 1880-1890. |
|
Trade cards -- 1880-1890. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.122] |
| Accession number |
P.2017.95.122 |
