Details
Contributor Bordner, Isaac J.H., distributor.
Title Merrick Thread Co. "Fooled dis time, cully. Dis cotton ain't gwine to break." [graphic].
Publisher [United States] : [publisher not identified]
Publisher UNITED STATES. 1885
Date [ca. 1885]
Physical Description 1 print : chromolithograph ; sheet 11 x 7 cm (4.5 x 3 in.)
Description Racist trade card depicting a smiling African American boy portrayed as fishing bait for an alligator in a swamp. Shows the boy suspended from a tree limb over the gaping jaws of the head of the reptile jutting out from the body of water below him. The boy is held up by a hook in the seat of his pants that is attached to white thread wrapped around the tree limb and from a large spool that floats in the water. The spool bears the Merrick Thread Co. logo. The boy holds the fishing line of thread and fishing rod in his hands and by his face. He is barefooted and attired in a blue hat, a red shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a white vest, and blue pants with a patch on the right knee. The boy is depicted with exaggerated features. Print also contains an image on verso depicting a partially opened box of several spools of thread, on which the thread company's tagline "Merrick Thread Co's Ready Wound Bobbins for Sewing Machines Warranted 200 Yards" is printed. 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. The distributor of the thread, Isaac J.H. Bordner, owned a store which was built in 1881 and located in the Mount Aetna neighborhood of Tulpehocken Township in Pennsylvania. In addition to being a businessman, Bordner was served as the local postmaster between 1870 and 1899.
Notes Title from item.
Date inferred from content and genre of print.
Advertising text printed on verso: Buy Merrick Thread Co.'s Best Six Cord Soft Finish Spool Cotton For Machine & Hand Sewing Warranted 200 Yds. Also.
Distributor's imprint printed on verso: Isaac J.H. Bordner, Dealer in General Merchandise, Mt. Aetna, Berks Co., Pa.
Subject Merrick Thread Co.
African American boys -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Alligators.
Fishing.
Food.
Racism in popular culture.
Thread.
Thread industry -- Massachusetts -- Holyoke.
Genre Chromolithographs. -- 1880-1890.
Trade cards. -- 1860-1890.
Associated name Bordner, Isaac J.H., distributor.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.120]
Accession number P.2017.95.120