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Title: Mertens & Phalen, best made clothing. Troy, N.Y
Description: Racist trade card depicting a sentimentalized view of an African American girl. Shows the smiling, cherubic-faced girl in bust-length, standing behind a barely-visible brick wall and holding a white cloth with embroidered edges over it. The girl holds the cloth in both hands as well as an up-turned feathered duster in her right hand. She is attired in an orange and white ruffled cap, an orange bowtie, a white and orange polka dot shirt, and a blue and white striped apron. Visible in the background are flowers and greenery. Mertens & Phalen, a branch of the firm J.M. Merten's & Co., was a retail business in Troy, New York. J.M. Merten's was founded in 1888 after J.M. Merten assumed ownership of a clothing manufacturing business formerly owned by A.C. Yates and Theodore Dissel., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation listed in Dwight Hall Bruce, ed., "Memorial History of Syracuse, N.Y.: From Its Settlement to the Present Time," (H.P. Smith & Company), 636-637., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Mertens [P.2017.95.124]

Title: Star Clothing House, 808 Elm St
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting a white man pasting advertisements on an unattended horse and a carriage. The carriage's driver, an African American man, gestures at the white man to get him to stop. The white man is attired in a flat cap, a collared shirt, suspenders, checkered pants, and boots. He carries a messenger bag and holds a pasting brush in his right hand. A bucket of paste is visible on the ground to the left of the man. The African American man is attired in a hat, a jacket, a vest, and a collared shirt. He holds a whip in his right hand and raises both arms in the air. A caption in the bottom left of the image reads, "The Latest.", Title from item., Advertising text printed on verso: The Star Clothing House is the place for you to get any-thing made. Entire line of clothing at the bottom figures. 808 Elm Street., Text printed on recto: For honest goods we warrant our prices lower than the lowest, and [..]h every suit from $10 up we give a hat such as purchasers may select., Printer's imprint partially legible., Series number printed in left corner on recto: 464., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Star [P.2017.95.167]

Title: The guessing. Smith, Stevenson & Co., Byxbee house block, Meriden
Description: Racist trade card illustration advertising a competition to guess the weight of a horse. Image depicts a smiling African American child peering out from beneath a folded blanket with fringe. The upper left corner of the blanket is folded and bears advertising text and the word "Honey." Underneath the folded flap of the blanket is a branch with two roses. The child is depicted with exaggerated features. Smith, Stevenson & Co. was a clothing store in Meriden, Connecticut., Title from item., Advertising text on recto: I's gwine to guess de weight ob Meriden Girl, shuah!, Advertising text on recto: The Guessing on the weight of the bay mare Meriden Girl, will close Thursday, December 21st. We make this announcement that all may have a chance to guess before the box is closed. The mare will be weighed Christmas morning as before stated., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Smith [P.2017.95.158]

Title: Imperméables, Au Roi du Caoutchouc
Description: Racist trade card promoting Roi du Caoutchouc's trench coats and depicting a bust-length portrait caricature of a fashionable black man. The man is depicted with exaggerated facial features, including a broad smile and long eye lashes. He is attired in a gold, bejeweled crown; gold hoop earrings; a trench coat with the collar raised; and gray turtleneck. Roi du Caoutchouc was a Belgium manufacturer of raincoats and trenchcoats in business originally in the 1920s. Leopold Trepper, a Polish Soviet intelligence agent, acquired the company in 1938 and launched a Brussels operation that expanded into an import-export business called the Foreign Excellent Trenchcoat Company. Trepper used the firm as a front for espionage. In 1940, during World War II, the Germans assumed control of the company., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: Imperméables, Au Roi du Caoutchouc., Advertising text printed on verso: Trouver mieux? Impossible! Les imperméables et gabardines au roi du caoutchouc sont reconnus les meilleurs, les plus élégants, les moins chers. Apercu de quelques prix: Imperméables très solides depuis 45 frs. Trench-coats entièrement doublés et huilés depuis 75 frs. Gabardines entièrement doublées 1/2 soie depuis 95 frs. 55 succursales en Belgique. Bruxelles 103, Boulevard Ad. Max. 161, Chaussée de Waterloo. 141, Rue haute. 51, Rue de Flandre. 15, Chaussée de Louvain. Translation of advertising text: Find better? Impossible! The rubber king's raincoats and garbardines are recognized as the best, the most elegant, the cheapest. Preview of some prices: Very solid waterproofs for 45 frs. Trench-coats fully lined and oiled for 75 frs. Gabardines fully lined 1/2 silk for 95 frs. 55 branches in Belgium. Brussels 103, Boulevard Ad. Max. 161, Waterloo Causeway. 141 High Street. 51 Flanders Street. 15, Leuven Causeway., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Au Roi du Caoutchouc [P.2017.95.9]

Title: Wm. M. Smith, 474 Broad Street
Description: Racist trade card depicting a snowy scene with several African American figures. At the center of the image is an African American man attired in a long button-down coat with a hood walking past a group of children. He stands with his left hand in his pocket and holds a cane in his right hand. Small hosues, bare trees, a fence, and several people are visible in the background. Three children in the right foreground of the image look up at the man in the center and adog in the left of the image runs in front of him. The figures are portrayed with exaggerated features. William M. Smith owned a clothing store in Newark, New Jersey in the late 19th century., Title from item., Advertising text on verso: 2424. Two thousand, four hundred and twenty-four Customers, whose names and measurements are registered on our books, will attest to the superiority of the "Domestic Shirt" over all others in make, material, fit, and economy. Factory attached to the Store, No. 474 Broad Street opposite Orange St. where the public are cordially invited to examine our Shirts in every stage of manufacture. N.B. The Otto Gas Engine Furnishing the power to run our machines is a marvel of mechanical ingenuity. Wm. M. Smith, 474 Broad Street, Opp. Orange Street., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Smith [P.2017.95.160]

Title: Sollers & Co, minstrels
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting six well-dressed children sitting in chairs arranged on a stage in a semi-circle. Four of the children are white and two of them are African American. At the center of the image is a white boy who attired in a green suit jacket and cropped pants with a pink bowtie pointing and asking the children to his right,"Why do we all wear Sollers & Co's shoes?" The African American boy in the left of the image responds, "Cause dey save de soles ob de children!" The African American boy in the right of the image is depicted saying, "Gib it up!" The two African American boys are attired in blonde wigs, blue coats, yellow pants, and boots. The three white girls are attired in ruffled dresses and hold fans. The white boy is attired in a green jacket, white collared shirt, pink bowtie, green pants, and boots. Two medals earned by Sollers & Co. at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition and the 1878 Exposition Universelle (or World's Fair) in Paris are printed on the trade card's verso. S.D. Sollers & Co. was a Philadelphia manufacturer of women and children's clothing and shoes that operated during the 19th century., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Why do we all wear Soller's & Co's shoes? Cause dey save de soles ob de chil'ren! Gib it up!, Advertising text printed on verso: Sollers & Co's celebrated shoes & slippers for ladies, misses and children. Hand-made and Machine Sewed. Retailed only at our store, 636 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Buy our Protection Toe and Box Toe Tip Shoes for your Children. They are the Best to wear., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1877
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Sollers [P.2017.95.162]

Title: New clothing [etc] at T.B. Segar's, Odd Fellows Block. Hope Valley
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man being chased by a white man and a dog. The African American man hangs by the seat of his pants on the jagged picket of a fence behind him. He holds a chicken in his right hand and watches a second chicken escape from him. He is attired in a blue and white striped shirt, blue pants, and shoes. The white man carries a gun in his right hand and runs as his hat flies off his head. A house is visible in the background. The African American man is depicted with exaggerated features., Title from item., Text on recto: New clothing, new hats & caps, new carpetings, new oil cloths, new house paper, new borders, new dry goods, new hoisery, new gloves, new corsets, new department for boots and shoes, an immense stock and low prices, at T.B. Segar's, Odd Fellows Block, Hope Valley., Text on recto: Ole zip coon!, Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - T.B. Segar's [P.2017.95.156]

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