If dat ar fish knowd dis wor Merrick's thread, he wouldnt ha bit.
Title
If dat ar fish knowd dis wor Merrick's thread, he wouldnt ha bit Merrick Thread Co. Best six cord 8
Description
Racist trade card for the Merrick Thread Company at 248 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia and depicting Black men, attired only in loincloths, pulling a captured whale onto a beach. The five men, portrayed in racist caricature, stand on the beach and hold onto the thread coming from an oversized spool labeled, "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8," in the right. The whale with an open mouth of sharp teeth is pulled from the ocean onto the beach. In the background, two men run, and palm trees are visible in the right. 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., Title from item., Date inferred from date of operation of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso promotes Merrick Thread Co.'s best six cord soft finish spool cotton for machine & hand sewing and offers patrons "two lithoed water-color engravings" and "Sunshine for Little Children" on receipt of twenty-five cents., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Merrick [P.2002.30]
F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St.
Title
F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St Opening days, November 1st and 2d, 1881
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards promoting F. Pulaski & Co., a fancy goods store at 1026 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a white woman pulling on her red stockings as her pet cat rubs his head against her foot and the same woman attired in a brown coat, a pink hat, blue stockings and white shoes, leaving her home with her cat trailing her. Also includes two related scenes showing a white woman standing with her head lowered before her surprised white husband with black soot on her face and clothing. In the subsequent scene, the husband is fighting with a Black man. In the right, the white man's brown cap flies off his head and white flour is dispersed through the air. In the left, the Black man's brown, brimmed hat falls to the ground as he grabs his hands around the white man's head with his right leg lifted up. F. Pulaski & Co., initially a partnership between Frank Pulaski and M.L. Kline when these trade cards were created, later specialized in pictures and picture frames., Title from item., Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.714]: "En voyant sa femme changée de couleur, Pétrin qui a mauvais caractère, devine tout de suite que Charabia lui a fait une niche. Il a son plan.", Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.718]: "Comme ils se sont promis de faire suer: Charabia, de la farine à chon ami Pétrin, et Pétrin du charbon a Charabia, ils se tiennent parole.", Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date
1881
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Pulaski [1975.F.714; 1975.F.718; 1975.F.764 & 1975.F.871]