Racist, trade card promoting butcher John Henry Jahke and depicting a caricature of an African American man on mule-drawn plow. Shows the African American man, attired in a hat and a blue, plaid jacket and pants, sitting on top of a plow. He holds the lever to the plow in his right hand and the reins to the mule pulling the plow in his left hand. The mule is kicking its back legs into the air because three pigs are running around it. Trees are visible in the background. John Henry Jahke (1835-1919) was a prominent butcher who owned a slaughtering and packing plant in West Philadelphia on Baring and Sloan Streets., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., Digitized., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1875]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Jahke [P.9766]
Trade card depicting a racist, comic, genre scene to promote the Co-operative Dress Association established by journalist and lecturer Kate Fields in 1881. Shows an older African American boy, portrayed with large eyes, nose, lips, and ears, in a hive eating honey comb as a bear enters from behind him. The boy, attired in a collared red shirt with the sleeves rolled up and blue pants rolled to the knees, sits, left knee up and right leg out, on a mound and to the left of a stack of comb. He smiles and raises a piece of comb toward his mouth. Above him and to the right, the rear end of a bear in a hole in the hive is visible. The Co-operative Dress Association, incorporated in April 1881 with 5000 stockholders, was established to provide clothing "articles of fine quality at fair prices" without the "inducement for illegitimate gain" to women of limited incomes. The cooperative, its necessity criticized by advocates for the New York City retail dry-goods trade, operated until 1882-1883 when placed under receivership., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of co-operative., Series number printed on recto in lower right corner: 24., Copyright statement printed on recto: Copyrighted., Advertising text printed on verso: Open To Everybody. Everybody Invited. Anybody Can Buy. Co-Operative Dress Association (Limited), 31 and 33 West 23d Street, New York. Dry Goods of All Kinds. House-Keeping Goods. Ready-Made Dresses, Cloaks and Wraps, At All Prices. Ladies', Children's and Boys' Suits. Upholstery, Millinery, Stationery, China, Glass and Plated Ware. Boots, Shoes, and Hair Goods. Visit every floor in the Six-Story Building. Restaurant on 5th Floor. Holiday Goods. Fancy Goods., Housed with the Emily Phillips Trade Card Collection., Anonymous gift., RVCDC, Description and access points reviewed 2022.
Date
[ca. 1881]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Cooperative [P.2020.23]
