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Title: Mason's challenge blacking. James S. Mason & Co., nos. 138 & 140 North Front Street, Philadelphia
Description: Advertisement depicting a "shoe blacking" competition between two African American shoe shiners to promote the manufactory of blacking established in 1832 by James S. Mason. Shows two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature, holding a brush, a canister of "Mason's" blacking, and a boot, while they dance on a table. An African American man fiddler sits on a stool and plays. In the foreground, a white man holds an oversized boot. A white shoe shine boy, his pack on his back, stands behind an older man holding his arm as he points at his reflection in the boot. In the left background, a troop of white Union soldiers marches in behind a parade marshal adorned in "M" insignias. The men carry a banner reading "Mason's (Original) Challenge Blacking (Philadelphia)," as well as boots, and signs spelling "M-A-S-O-N." In the right background, a crowd of spectators, including figures likely representing Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and possibly France, stand and watch the competition attentively. Scene also includes boxes of Mason's Challenge Blacking. Following the death of Mason in 1888, his son Richard assumed the business which was in operation into the 20th century., Title from item., Date inferred from directory listings for the artist and engravers., Attributed by cataloger to Francis H. Schell, but possibly by Frederick B. Schell., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Schell, Francis H., 1834-1909, artist
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 11x14 - Advertisements - M [P.2013.51]

Title: The game of secession or sketches of the rebellion Our army and navy for ever!
Description: Gameboard containing a serpent-like figure comprised of 135 spaces surrounded by captioned vignettes also used on Civil War envelopes. Pro-Union designs advance the player and anti-secession designs retard the player. Vignettes depict portraits of prominent war figures; views of forts, soldiers, and preparations for battle; Union and Confederate flags; allegorical figures; and satiric and racist depictions of Confederates. Includes President Abraham Lincoln; Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Winfield Scott, Maj-Gen. George B. McClellan, Comm. S.F. Dupont, Confederate Gen. Beauregard; bombardment of Fort Sumter; Philadelphia Navy Yard; liberty; Columbia; and Confederate soldiers on retreat; riding a enslaved African American man, and protected by bales of cotton. "Directions" to play the game printed in the lower left corner. Flags and shields adorn the borders., Title from item., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to George McClellan. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Reproduced in Erika Piola, "For the millions: Civil War stationery for women and children in the McAllister Collection at the Library Company of Philadelphia," The Ephemera journal 13 (2010), [39]., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1862]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Games [5793.F.44]

Title: Specimen sheet Union, patriotic and humorous designs upon envelopes
Description: Advertisement containing twenty-five examples of Civil War envelope vignettes published by King & Baird. Majority of the vignettes include titles and slogans. Designs depict the American flag; liberty, the American eagle; soldiers (including the martyred Colonel Ellsworth); caricatures of Brigadier General Henry A. Wise (former governor of Virginia), Jefferson Davis, and the Southern gentry; a portrait of Washington; an abolitionist scene showing the whipping of an African American man entitled "The persuasive eloquence of the Sunny South"; and a racist caricature of an African American man on all fours carrying a whip and asking in the vernacular, "Whar's Jeff Davis?" Also contains a description of the envelopes and shipping information, as well as the scale of prices ranging from "25 Assorted Envelopes, (25 kinds)" at 25 cents to 1000 at 5 dollars., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Single copies of this sheet will be mailed free of postage, upon receipt of six cents, by King & Baird, Book and Job Printers, 607 Sansom St., Philadelphia., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of miscellaneous Civil War prints. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886 [5786.F.161a]. Accessioned 2002 [P.2002.45]., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: King & Baird
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War [5786.F.161a; P.2002.45]

Title: Cartes de visite reproductions of "Campaign Sketches"
Description: Series of reproductions of lithographs of military life "sketched on the spot" by Homer and originally published by L. Prang & Co. in 1863. Includes "A Pastime," "The Coffee Call", and "Our Jolly Cook" showing white men soldiers gathered around camp fires to play cards; get coffee; and watch the African American man camp hand, portrayed as a racist caricature, dance. Also shows white men soldiers "Foraging" as they round up a cow on a homestead; the "Baggage Train" with two African American camp hands on the back of a conestoga wagon; and "The Letter for Home" showing a white woman volunteer assist an injured white man soldier in the hospital to write a letter., Title and date based on the L. Prang & Co. publication in 1863., Three of the images signed by artist: Homer del., Created postfreeze., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Original lithographs described in Katherine McClinton's The chromolithographs of Louis Prang (New York, C. N. Potter distributed by Crown Publishers, 1973), p. 144-147., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - miscellaneous - Civil War - Homer - Caricatures & cartoons - Homer [5780.F.52i; 53b, d, g, i & n]

Title: [Staged scene, possibly an allusion to the Emancipation Proclamation, depicting a kneeling African American boy, white woman and girls representing figures of Liberty, and a white man dressed as a soldier]
Description: Scene shows, in the right, the back of the kneeling boy, his hands clasped and raised to his chin. He is attired in a long-sleeved garment, pants, and boots. The soldier, attired in a hardee hat and light-colored military jacket, stands beside the boy, looks down at home, and points his right hand in the direction of the woman figure of Liberty, in the left of the image, and seated on a makeshift throne. She wears a crown adorned with stars, a white dress cinched at the waist and adorned with the detail of a striped shield at the chest. She holds a scepter up and across her chest with her left hand. In front of her, and between her and the soldier are three girls of different ages from young to adolescent. The girls wear crowns adorned with a star and white dresses. They each hold a hand over their heart. Scene also includes a plain backdrop, ornamented floor, and possibly a partial view of an American flag in the left., Title supplied by cataloger., Dated inferred from content and active dates of Tunison & Son., Purchased with the Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Tunison & Son was the partnership between David C. Tunison (ca. 1821-1887) and his son Oscar B. Tunison (1842-1925). The business operated under that name circa 1863-circa 1889. David C. Tunison had previously worked in a partnership with Fabius B. Faye 1855-1863. By 1872, Tunison & Son was advertised as one of the "institutions" of the city of Tiffin.
Creator: Tunison & Son, photographer
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - Tunison & Son - Genre [P.2024.45]

Title: Civil War stationery collection
Description: Collection of stationery containing patriotic designs often used on patriotic envelopes, with a majority including a title, slogan, and/or verse. Designs predominately include views of regiment camps; images of soldiers, including battle and camp life scenes; patriotic symbols including flags, eagles, bells, shields, stars and the figure of liberty; portraiture of historic and military figures; and basic designs including stripes, colored edges, and lined borders. Unique designs with assigned LCP numbers include an untitled regiment view showing the soldiers playing baseball, possibly at Abner Doubleday's camp (RE-LCP 35); a view of Poughkeepsie from 1854 (SC-NW-LCP-3); the New York funeral procession for Abraham Lincoln on April 25, 1865 (SC-NW-LCP-4); two designs published by J.W. Barber of New Haven showing bars of music from "My Country Tis of Thee" (O-M-LCP-8) and an allegorical scene of Liberty fighting treason, rebellion, tyranny, and oppression (F-P-LCP-1). Collection also contains a series of seven Charles Magnus hand-colored designs containing birds-eye views and military maps. Views show Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort and Hygeia Hotel, Va. and the Capitol. Military maps shows Maryland and Virginia; Virginia between Washington and Manassas Junction; Richmond and Alexandria; Fortress Monroe and Richmond; and the southern coast between Fortress Monroe and New Orleans. Collection also includes a small number of Confederate stationery. Confederates designs include a view of enslaved African American people driving a wagon of supplies to a battlefield and a satire of Abraham Lincoln as an Native American chief. Portraits include George Washington, George McClellan, and Elmer Ellsworth. Three uncut printed proof sheets of patriotic stationery used as ream wrappers and the first style of U.S. postcard (circa 1872) also included as part of the collection., Some copyrighted., Some contain manuscript notes., Various publishers including Philadelphia publishers James Magee and L. N. Rosenthal as well as New York publisher Charles Magnus., Title supplied by cataloger., See William R. Weiss, Jr.'s The catalog of Union Civil War patriotic covers (Bethleham, Pa.: William R. Weiss, 1995). LCP copy annotated to show collection holdings., See the George Walcott collection of used Civil War patriotic covers (New York: Robert Laurence, 1934)., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to the Civil War. McAlliser Collection, gift, 1886., Reproduced in Erika Piola, "For the millions: Civil War stationery for women and children in the McAllister Collection at The Library Company of Philadelphia," The Ephemera journal 13 (2010), [32]., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1861-1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Civil War Stationery [various], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War - Ream Wrappers [P.2006.1.30a-c]

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