© Copyright 2025 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
(33,801 - 33,812 of 33,812)
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. A black tea party
- Description
- Racist caricature satirizing the African American guests and hosts, "Mr. Ludovico" and "Miss Rosabella," of a tea party. To the far right of the table, "Miss Rosabella," attired in a blue cap sleeve dress, pours steaming hot tea into a cup which tips over and spills onto a startled black cat on the floor. To her right, "Mr. Ludovico," attired in a blue waistcoat, passes a plate of sandwiches to "Miss Araminta,” attired in a pink, puff sleeved dress and who protests his taking the trouble. Next to them, a frowning, woman guest, attired in an orange puff sleeved dress asks “Miss Rosabella” for "anoder cup" of tea after she helps the other guests. An African American man servant (in the right) and the other guests (in the left), a mother holding her baby and resting her feet on an ottoman and her young son seated on a small chair, observe and comment about the spilled tea on the cat and the flirtatious behavior of "Mr. Ludovico." The man servant wears a jacket with epaulets. He holds a cloth. The mother wears a green dress with puffed sleeves. The boy wears a red smock shirt and striped pants. He drinks a cup of tea. The scene is set in a parlor decorated with a carpet with an ornate pattern. Figures are depicted with oversize and exaggerated features. Their skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring. The women figures wear their hair in top knots, except the mother who wears a round, soft brimmed hat adorned with bows., Title from item., Date inferred by content and name of publisher., Contains six dialogue bubbles above the image: I bery glad I ain’t the cat./I begin to see which way de cat jumps/When you have helped all de company Miss Rosabella, I’ll tank you for anoder cup/No trouble Miss Araminta none but de brave deserve de Fair/You take too mush trouble Mr. Ludovico./Mass cat tink him tea to hot., Charles Hunt was a respected London engraver who was most well known for his aquatints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Summers, William, delineator
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) - publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [P.9709.2]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. Grand celebration ob de bobalition ob African slabery
- Description
- Racist caricature about free African Americans' celebratory response to the abolition of the African slave trade by the United States, an act passed in 1807 that took effect in 1808. Depicts a group of over fifteen well-dressed men sitting and standing and drinking, smoking, and making toasts around a large dinner table. A number of the men raise goblets and/or pipes in the air. Soup tureens are visible on the table. One man, standing, drinks from a rum bottle. In the far right, an attendee, in a wide-brimmed hat, carries away another who is unconscious, his tongue out, and holding a pipe. The men are attired in waistcoats with tails, pants and pantaloons, some striped, vests, and cravats. Some wear their hair in pompadour styles and one man has white hair. The biting toasts address "De Orator ob de day," William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist; William Eustis, Governor of Massachusetts and the disgraced former Secretary of War under Madison; "De Sun" which should shine at night; Joseph Gales, a publisher and secretary of the American Colonization Society who believed that only states had the right to emancipate enslaved persons; "Ning Edwards;" "De Genius ob Merica;" the "White man" who wants to colonize blacks "now he got no furder use for him;" and "De day we Celembrate" and why it did not come sooner. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring. During the early 19th century, summer celebratory processions commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade occurred annually in major Northern cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains eight bubbles of dialogue in the vernacular within image: De Orator ob de day_When I jus hear him begin he discourse, tink he no great ting, but when he come to end ob um, I tink he like to scorch cat more better dan he took_Moosick_Possum up de Gum tree/Gubner Eustas Cleber old sole as eber wore nee buckle in de shoe_99 cheer and tree quarter/De Sun _Wonder why he no shine in de night putting nigger to dispense ob de candle./De day we Celumbrate! who he no come sooner? Guess de hard fros & de backward spring put um back. 29 pop gun v. 2 grin. White man _ mighty anxious to send nigger, to de place dey stole him from, now he got no furder use for him./De Genius de Merica _ He invent great many curious ting: wonder who just invent eating & drinking. 30 cheer & ober./Joe Gales _ He ax Massa Adams “if he be in health my brudder” and den he cut he guts out./Ning Edwards_ Guess he no great Angs no more nor udder people all he cut such a swell., P.2016.45.2 trimmed and lacking imprint., See LCP AR (Annual Report) 2003, p. 40-42., Shane White and Graham White's Stylin': African American Expressive Culture... (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), p. 111. (LCP Ii 4, A2880.O)., Digital image shown is P.9709.3., P.2016.45.1 gift of Dr. Richard Dunn & Dr. Mary Maples Dunn., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Harris, I., engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) - publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [P.9709.3 & P.2016.45.2]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. A crier extraordinary
- Description
- Racist caricature of an African American town crier performing his duties in front of a storefront on a busy Philadelphia street. The crier, attired in worn clothing and a yellow straw hat, holds up his bell in his right hand and the sheet of news down with the other. He calls out the upcoming events, including sales of merchandise, a "sarmont on Temperance," and a "Colored Ball at Mrs. Johnsons." His attire includes a blue jacket, striped shirt with patches, a red cravat, white pants with patches, and black shoes. Several spectators listen, including an African American belle, attired in a striped, hooded cape over a dress with floral details; an African American street boy, attired in a worn jacket, vest, and pants and holding a broken mug; a white boy peddler, attired in a smock and boots and with his wares on a tray over his shoulder; and a white shopkeeper holding a cloth work in his hands as his stands in his store's doorway. The peddler boy walks a dog that has torn the crier's copy of the news. Drapery hangs in the store’s display window. Black figures are depicted with oversize and exaggerated features. White figures are depicted with exaggerated features., Signed W.S. for William Summers in lower right corner., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular below the image: Sale dis nite_Frying Pans_Grid Irons_Book_Oyster Knives and odder kinds of Medicines_Joe Williams will hab some fresh oysters at his stablishment_by tickler design, Mr. Hewlet will gib Imitations ober again_two or tree damaged Discussion Locks, and Rebd. Mr. P.Q. will deliver a sarmont on Temperance, half past 6 o’Clock precise, dats not all! Widout Money or Price _ de great Bull Phillip will be station at Squire S__s & dats not all nudder! dare will be a perlite & Colored Ball at Mr. Johnsons jus arter dis is bin done”_, Charles Hunt was a respected 19th century London engraver and etcher known mostly for his prints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Purchase 1968.
- Creator
- Summers, William, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) - publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [7689.F]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. "How you find yourself dis hot weader Miss Chloe?"
- Description
- Racist caricature mocking the ambitions of free Blacks depicting, "Mr. Cesar," an African American dandy asking an African American belle how she finds herself in "dis hot weader?" "Miss Chloe," responds that she is doing well, but "aspires too much!" In the left, the man stands and faces the woman, in the right, and whose back is to the viewer. The man is attired in a green waistcoat, a blue vest, pink cravat, yellow pants, blue gloves, and black slipper shoes. He holds a walking stick perpendicular to the ground in his right hand and a hat in his left hand. The woman is attired in a pink, puff-sleeved, ankle-length dress with red neckerchief and blue belt, grey wide-brimmed hat with a long veil and adorned with several flowers and blue and yellow ribbon, gloves, and white slipper shoes. She also wears earrings, a necklace, and a hair adornment. She holds a blue purse and green fan in her left hand and a parasol in her right hand. The man and woman stand on a grassy knoll. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. Their skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., After the work of Edward W. Clay., Attributed to William Summers., Inscribed: No. 8., Contains three lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect below the image: “How you find yourself dis hot weader Miss Chloe?” “Pretty well I tank you Mr. Cesar only I aspire too much!”, Charles Hunt was a respected London engraver who was most known for his aquatints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Creator
- Summers, William, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9710.8]
- Title
- A joyous Christmas and a happy New Year Geo. Remsen Jr. & Co., Stationers & engravers, 815 Arch St. Phila
- Description
- Trade card promoting engraver and stationer Geo. Remsen Jr. & Co. and depicting racist caricatures of a Chinese woman and two Chinese men. In the right, a Chinese woman, wearing her hair up with decorative pins and a flower and attired in a blue, off-the-shoulder dress, sits in a red chair and holds a bouquet of pink flowers. In the center, the Chinese man, wearing a beard and a queue hairstyle and attired in a purple tunic and green pants, stands with his arms folded. In the left, the Chinese man, wearing a goatee and queue hairstyle and attired in a red tunic, pink-and-white striped pants, and black cloth slip-on shoes, stands in front of the woman with his hands out. Also in the scene are a small dog and a red dragon., Title from item., Date inferred from calendar printed on verso., Text printed on verso: "Geo. Remsen Jr. & Co., Stationers & engravers, 815 Arch St., Philadelphia" with a monthly calendar for 1880., RVCDC.
- Date
- [1879]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Geo. Remsen Jr. & Co. [P.2015.56.299]
- Title
- Porcelain ware, Japanese Court
- Description
- View showing porcelain ware, mostly vases, in a stall in the Japanese Court within the Main Building designed by Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Vases, bowls, and jars of various sizes are displayed on tiered tables and on the carpeted floor. Framed artwork hangs on the walls. A small decorative table is in the left. The Centennial Exhibition celebrated the centennial of the United States through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art., Title on negative., Date from item., Photographer's imprint printed on mount and on verso. Imprint on verso contains initials "CPC" in decorative border surmounted by date range 1776-1876., White curved mount with rounded corners., Gift of Raymond Holstein., See related: stereo - Centennial Photographic Co. [P.9022.5]; Holstein stereo - Centennial Photo. Co. [P.2011.47.512].
- Creator
- Centennial Photographic Co.
- Date
- 1876
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Holstein stereo - Centennial Photo. Co. [P.2011.47.513]
- Title
- McCless 1417 Chestnut St., (above Broad), fine arts! French plate mirrors
- Description
- Trade card promoting fine art dealer and mirror merchant J.E. McCless and depicting a caricaturized Japanese man pointing to a sign with the advertising text. In the center, the man, wearing a chonmage hairstyle and attired in a purple kimono with white and green trim, a black jacket with gold trim, and sandals stands and points to a wooden sign with advetising text., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised., Purchased 2015.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - McCless [P.2015.56.576]
- Title
- B. Miller, segars, tobacco, stationery, toys &c., 1822 S. Seventh St., Phila
- Description
- Trade card promoting tobacco merchant B. Miller and showing two boys pulling the hair of a Chinese man depicted in racist caricature. In the right, the Chinese man, wearing an exaggeratedly long queue hairstyle and attired in a blue tunic, yellow pants, and black shoes, is pulled on his back onto a wooden box and grasps the sides with his hands. In the left, a white boy, attired in a white hat with a blue ribbon, a pink-striped shirt, blue pants, and black shoes, holds the man's hair and pulls back with his feet lifted off the ground. The white boy, attired in a yellow hat with an orange ribbon, a white shirt, yellow pants, and black shoes, stands facing left and pulls the man's hair over his shoulder with his feet lifted off the ground. Broadsides pasted on the fence in the background read,"Hoodlumism at discount education" and "Soiety [sic] for converting heathen." A building is visible in the right background., Title from text stamped on verso., Date inferred from content., Purchased 2015., See related: Berman Trade Card Collection - Weymann [P.2015.56.939]., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Miller [P.2015.56.591]
- Title
- General Grant's voyage around the world
- Description
- Trade card promoting clothier Perry & Co. and depicting Ulysses S. Grant's world tour with the nationalities he visited. After Grant’s presidency ended, he and his wife Julia embarked on a world tour of nineteen countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia departing from Philadelphia in May 1877 and returning to San Francisco in September 1879. In the left, shows Grant with his wife and son Jesse, crossing a bridge and greeting a clergyman. Sailors stand in the left. Labeled groups of people stand in their native dress from left to right in a circle: Ireland; Great Britain; France (with Notre Dame); Germany; Spain; Italy (with Rome and Vesuvius); Turkey (with Constantinople); Egypt (showing the pyramids and camels); India (with Calcutta); Birma (sic) (showing elephants); Siam; China (showing palanquins and a pagoda); and Japan. In the right, a ship sails on the Pacific Ocean returning to San Francisco. A group of Americans celebrate the Grants' return and set off a cannon. An American flag flies on a flagpole., Title from item., Date inferred from date of event., Copyright statement printed on recto: Copyright by F. Moras., Text printed on verso: Reception of General Grant, Tuesday, December 16th, 1879. Route of parade. The line will move at 10:30 A.M. from a point on Broad Street, near the Junction Station, down Broad to Market, down Market to Fourth, down Fourth to Chestnut, out Chestnut (passing under the Arch erected by the city in front of Independence Hall) to Thirteenth, down Thirteenth to Pine, out Pine to Broad, down Broad to Passyunk Avenue. The General with Governor Hoyt and Mayor Stokley, will dismount on the way up at the Union League. The line will be reviewed as it countermarches on Broad Street. The line will then proceed west of the new Public Buildings to Market Street and there dismiss. Presented by Perry & Co. Fine tailors and clothiers, 609 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia., Purchased 2015., RVCDC
- Creator
- Moras, Ferdinand, 1821-1908
- Date
- [ca. 1879]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Perry & Co. [P.2015.56.672]
- Title
- H.A. Weymann, dealer in watches, clocks and jewelry, 156 North Second St., Philadelphia
- Description
- Trade card promoting clock and jewelry dealer H.A. Weymann and showing two boys pulling the hair of a Chinese man depicted in racist caricature. In the right, the Chinese man, wearing an exaggeratedly long queue hairstyle and attired in a blue tunic, yellow pants, and black shoes, grabs his hair with his hands and pulls back sitting on top a wooden box. In the left, a white boy, attired in a yellow hat with an orange ribbon, a white shirt, yellow pants, and black shoes, stands on the corner of the box, holds the Chinese man's hair and pulls back. The boy, attired in a pink-striped shirt, blue pants, and black shoes, stands below the other boy, holds onto the man's hair, and pulls. His white hat with a blue ribbon falls off of his head. Broadsides pasted on the fence in the background read,"How beautiful are the ways of South" and "Do unto others what others [do un]to you" A building is visible in the right background., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Purchased 2015., See related: Berman Trade Card Collection - Miller [P.2015.56.591]., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Weymann [P.2015.56.939]
- Title
- John Griffeth. Furniture warerooms, 119 N. Second St., Philad'a, PA A full assortment of chamber and parlor suits, mattresses and bedding, &c
- Description
- Trade card promoting John Griffeth's furniture store and depicting Asian decorative motifs and objects, including fans, a parasol, cranes, and mountains. Shows vignettes of: a parasol and two fans in a blue and white porcelain container; two standing cranes, one eating a frog; and two mountain peaks. John Griffeth established his furniture business in 1880., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised., Purchased 2015.
- Date
- [ca. 1890]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - Griffeth [P.2015.56.316]
- Title
- Compliments of John Wanamaker & Co. Clothiers, Chestnut below Ninth
- Description
- Trade card promoting dry goods merchant and clothier John Wanamaker & Co. and depicting a caricaturized Japanese boy playing a stringed instrument to a small dog. In the center, the boy, attired in a multi-colored, patterned kimono, geta shoes, and a straw conical hat, plays a stringed instument. In the left, a small black-and-white dog stands on his hind legs., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised., Stamped on recto: Branch House, No. 10 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh., Purchased 2015., John Wanamaker and his brother-in-law Nathan Brown formed Wanamaker & Brown and opened the store Oak Hall at Sixth and Market Streets in 1861. Brown died in 1868. In 1869, the firm became John Wanamaker & Co., and he opened a store at Eighth and Chestnut Streets. John Wanamaker's Grand Depot at Thirteenth and Market Streets, opened in 1876 to cater to Centennial Exhibition crowds.
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Berman Trade Card Collection - John Wanamaker & Co. [P.2015.56.463]

