© 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
- Title
- [Morgan & Headly trade cards]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards promoting jewelers Morgan & Headly in the Mutual Life Building at the northwest corner of Tenth and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. Trade card depicts a large diamond jewel [1975.F.579]. Illustrated trade card depicts a caricaturized Japanese woman and boy playing a horn. The woman, wearing her hair tied up and decorated with kanzashi (decorative hair ornaments) and attired in a floral patterned kimono, stands before a Japanese-style building. She leans her left arm over a wall and looks down at a boy, wearing a shaved head with a small ponytail and attired in a tunic, a belt, pants, and cloth, slip-on shoes, playing a horn next to a bird with its beak open [1975.F.592]. Trade card depicting a Japanese-stylized scene of a crane bending over and cleaning its feathers with its beak. Also includes flowering tree branches [1975.F.593]., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content and history of the advertised business., One print [1975.F.579] contains vignette printed on verso depicting a hand-held fan superimposed onto a ribbon., RVCDC, 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 - Morgan [1975.F.579; 1975.F.592 & 593]
- Title
- [Geo. G. Burbank, druggist and apothecary, 235 Main St., Worcester, Mass.]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards depicting Japanese boys wearing fanciful, stylized versions of traditional attire and geta shoes and performing a variety of activities, including watching a fly pull toys on the ground, playing a stringed instrument as a dog dances on its hind legs, and holding a piece of paper of an illustration of a man and woman. Also includes "Ole zip coon," depicting a racist scene of an African American man stealing a chicken in the countryside. He hangs suspended on a wooden fence, snagged by the seat of his pants. He holds two squawking chickens by the legs in his right hand as another squawking chicken runs away in the left. The man is portrayed with exaggerated features and a look of fear. His mouth is open and the corners turned down. His wide eyes look to the right. In the background in the right, a white man, holding a rifle, runs with a dog towards the fence. A house is visible in the center background., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9828.5576] numbered 450 and printed by Bufford, Boston., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., 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
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - B [P.9828.5573-5576]
- Title
- F.P. Louderbough, graduate in pharmacy, cor. Tenth & Jefferson Sts. Philadelphia
- Description
- Trade card promoting pharmacist F.P. Louderbough and depicting racist caricatures of Japanese acrobats. Shows four barefooted, Japanese men, attired in red patterned kimonos, balancing, swinging, and flipping on two bamboo beams., Title from item., Dare inferred from content., Series no. on recto: 1700., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Louderbough [P.9828.6374]
- Title
- Japon
- Description
- Trade card promoting druggist John H. Sheehan & Co. and depicting a scene of a Japanese woman and a samurai holding a flag. In the right, the Japanese woman, wearing her hair up with Kanzashi hair ornaments and attired in a multi-colored kimono and yellow shoes, stands and reaches her right hand out towards the man. In the left, the Japanese samurai, attired in a helmet and armor, stands and holds a Japanese flag on a flagpole. A cherry tree with pink flowers grows in the background. In the top left corner is a crest with a Japanese flag., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Text printed on verso: John H. Sheehan, Dealers in Drugs, Medicines, Pefumery and Toilett (sic) Articles, 167 Genesee Street, Utica, N.Y., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC, See related: P.9828.6777.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Sheehan [P.9828.6766]
- Title
- Japan
- Description
- Trade card promoting coffee manufacturers Arbuckle Brothers and depicting Japanese men acrobats, jugglers, and dancers in a festival. In the left, shows a Japanese man acrobat wearing a chonmage hairstyle, a white headband, a pink kimono, and pink pants. He balances upside down on a flagpole with a pink banner and holds a fan in his right hand. In the right, a Japanese man, wearing a blue kimono, juggles a bottle and bowls. In the center is a fan with a vignette depicting three barefooted Japanese men, attired in black hats, yellow shirts, and blue pants, dancing holding branches. A Japanese man stands, attired in a black hat and green shirt, and holds a pink banner on a pole. Arbuckle's Coffee was founded by brothers John and Charles Arbuckle following the Civil War. The company was one of the first to sell roasted coffee and to place it in one pound packages. Arbuckle often included trade cards in the packages., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright, 1893, by Arbuckle Bros. N.Y., Series no. on verso: No. 34., Advertising text on verso: Grind your coffee at home…. Japan. The Japanese have the most advance civilization of any nation on Asiatic soil. Indeed in some regards they are even more advanced than the proudest of western countries. But in many ways they are ludicrously far behind. They cling to ancient forms of government and the Mikado is an autocrat, absolute almost over the life and death of his subjects. A country which yields such power to the individual, can never hope to work out its highest possibilities. So even the sports and pastimes of such a nation can never be the spontaneous expression of the animal spirits of the young of that land. Juggling is a fine art in Japan. Beside the Japanese juggler, the man of legerdemain of other countries is a clumsy bungler. The feats performed by the former are beyond all comparison. To achieve such dexterity, it may well be presumed that the wizard has been taught from earliest childhood. In fact the jugglers are sometimes a caste, so that the child often starts with the hereditary traits of forefather in the same line, and of the added experience of these. Of the acrobats of Japan who are also super-eminent much the same can be said. One would scarcely believe that the human body could be so sinuous and might be so contorted at will. The Japanese Festivals or Feasts are frequent. The main celebrations are held after dark; then fireworks are displayed, and lanterns are hung. These latter transform the most commonplace scenes into fairyland. The dancing indulged in on these occasions in most picturesque. As the figures flit from light into dark and back again, they form scenes never to be forgotten. The Japanese wrestlers are world-famed, and their contests are most skillful. This is one of a series of Fifty (50) cards giving a pictorial History of Sports and Pastimes of all Nations., RVCDC
- Date
- 1893
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Arbuckle [P.2025.35.1]
- Title
- W.F. Potteiger, druggist, N.W. corner Fourth and Spruce Streets, Reading, PA
- Description
- Trade card promoting pharmacist William F. Potteiger and depicting a white woman attired in a kimono, probably an actress in character from the opera The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the woman wearing her hair up and decorated with fans and attired in a blue kimono with gold cranes, peach-colored obi, and purple skirt. She holds a peach-colored fan in her right hand and turns her head to the right with her left hand up. She stands on a fur rug., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of the advertised business., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1886]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Potteiger [P.9828.6624]
- Title
- Compliments of R.B. Porter, druggist, St. Johnsville, N.Y
- Description
- Trade card promoting druggist Reuben B. Porter and depicting a white woman attired in a kimono dressed as a character from the opera The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows the woman wearing her hair up and decorated with fans and attired in a red and gold kimono. She sits on the branch of a red flower and holds a blue fan in her left hand. A white butterfly flies in the left., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of advertised business., Series no. on recto: 686., Manuscript written on verso: Nora Enlenmarks., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., See related: P.9828.332; P.9828.1679; P.9828.4244; P.9828.5299; P.9828.5852-5854., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1885]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Porter [P.9828.6622]
- Title
- Lloyd O. Woodruff, druggist. Cor. Broadway & Point St., Cape Vincent, N.Y. Don’t read the other side
- Description
- Racist trade card promoting pharmacist Lloyd O. Woodruff and depicting actress Kate Forster dressed in character as Pitti-Sing from the opera, The Mikado or, The town of Titipu, by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Shows Forster wearing her hair up and attired in a blue kimono with gold decorations and a gold, flower-patterned obi. She holds a fan in both hands behind her head. Kate Forster, whose real name was Kate Jancowski, worked for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and performed as Pitti-Sing and Katisha in the Mikado in 1885-1886, 1889-1902. Lloyd O. Woodruff opened a drugstore in Cape Vincent, New York circa 1870., Title stamped on recto., Date deduced from dates of the performance., Text printed on verso: Lloyd O. Woodruff, druggist, keeps a full line of drugs, patent medicines, paints, oils, window glass, dry goods, boots, shoes and rubbers, fine stationery, school books, fancy groceries, watches, chains, plated ware, crockery, and will not be undersold, if you do not see what you want at his store, ask for it. Don’t forget the place, Cor. Broadway & Point St., Gift of William H. Helfand., RVCDC, See related: P.9828.2769-2771; P.9828.2823.
- Date
- [ca. 1886]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists -Woodruff [P.9828.7139]
- Title
- C.C. Hughes, druggist & chemist, S.W. cor. 8th & Race Sts., Phila
- Description
- Trade card promoting druggist C.C. Hughes in the style of trompe l'oeil depicting a landscape with ships and a vignette portrait of a Japanese woman portrayed in caricature. Shows a landscape view with people standing on a path leading to a pagoda on a cliff. In the right, ships sail on the water. In the background are mountains. In the left, shows the Japanese woman wearing her hair up and decorated with Kanzashi hair ornaments and attired in gold hoop earrings; a yellow, patterned kimono with red trim; and a black obi. A green parrot sits on her left arm. Decorated border surrounds the scene., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1881 by Geo. M. Hayes., Advertising text printed on verso: Alhambra hair restorer. Restores gray hair to its natural color with three or four application, making it soft and beautiful; removes dandruff and itching of the scalp; prevents premature baldness; stops hair from falling out; will not soil the finest linen: an excellent dressing, nicely perfumed. Price, 75 Cts., large bottle. Manufactured by C.C. Hughes, druggist & chemist, S.W. Cor. Eighth and Race Streets, Philadelphia. Hughes’ Corn & Bunion Plasters. Give instant relief and effect a cure. (They are not pads to relieve the pressure.) Each 25 cents per box; 12 corn or 6 bunion in each box. Sent by mail on receipt of price. C.C. Hughes, Druggist, Eighth and Race Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., RVCDC
- Creator
- Rosenthal, Albert, 1863-1939
- Date
- 1881
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - Hughes [P.9828.6166]

