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- Title
- U. S. B. M. Dockstaders. US BM black mail. Charles and Lewis Dockstader, Carncross' Minstrels, Eleventh St. Opera House, Philadelphia, Pa
- Description
- Racist advertisement designed as a postcard to promote Carncross' Minstrels performers the Dockstaders, and the A. Vogeler & Co. patent medicine St. Jacobs Oil. Includes graphic details and vignettes depicting caricatured African Americans in a cancellation mark, stamp, and as postal workers. The cancellation mark (upper left) depicts the right, bust profile of a black man, possibly an allusion to a man in black face. The stamp (upper right) depicts the left, bust profile of a black man, possibly an allusion to a man in black face. In the lower left corner, an African American mail carrier, a mail bag around his shoulder, empties a "U.S.B.M." mailbox attached to a post. His back is to the viewer. In the lower right, an African American mail carrier, a mail bag filled with mail around his shoulder, and holding letters in his hand is depicted in mid stride. The unrelated Charles Dockstader and Lewis, i.e., Lew Dockstader (George Alfred Clapp) partnered in 1878. They joined John L Carncross' Minstrels in Philadelphia in 1880. The Dockstaders continued to perform with Carncross' until 1883 and the illness of Charles ending the partnership. In 1882, the men also performed with George Thatcher's Minstrel's (Philadelphia)and Haverly's Minstrels (St. Louis, Mo.). Lew remained with Carncross until 1886 and the creation of Dockstader's Minstrels., Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Printed on verso: Miss Information:-- Most worthy of estimation: After long and serious consideration on the reputation that you have in the nation. I have taken a serious inclination to remove my habitation, to a close situation, in order that I may pay a visitation for the sake of conversation. If this should meet with your approbation, I remain ever yours, without simulation. Ado Ration. P. S.---I thus give affirmation without qualifications that St. Jacobs Oil is the best application in the wide creation., Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Housed with the Ellen Phillips Advertising Card Collection., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015)., RVCDC, Access points revised 2022., Description revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Dockstader [P.2017.6]
- Title
- [Scrapbook with periodical illustrations, comic valentines, and patent medicine advertisements]
- Description
- Eccentrically-arranged scrapbook predominantly containing newspaper clippings, patent medicine almanac advertisements, and comic valentines. Also contains scraps, trade cards, and labels. Clippings, many published in the sensational periodicals “National Police Gazette” and “Days’ Doings” primarily depict illustrations of murders and violence, crimes and punishments, human curiosities, animal attacks, human peril, women in distress, gender non-conforming people, evocative theatrical performances, acts of daring, and comic scenes in silhouette. Illustrations include H. P. Peer's 1879 jump from the Niagara Falls bridge and a fight between the elephant "Bolivar" and a camel in Van Amburgh's menagerie. Patent medicine advertisements primarily promote the products of Barker’s Horse, Cattle, and Poultry Powder; C. I. Hood’s Sarsaparilla; Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pill; and E. S. Well's Rough on Rats. Valentines satirize various professions and gender and ethnic stereotypes, including a cook, music teacher, machinist, hatter, seamstress, “French nurse –(from Ireland),” “novel reader,” “prudish young woman,” and “an old bore.”, Also contains some sentimental and genre imagery, including mothers and children, children playing, and pets; landscape and cityscape illustrations; racist caricatures of African Americans; Tobin trade cards depicting comical views of baseball players (p. 21); an advertisement for The Electric Era/ German Electric Belt Agency (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Dalziel Brother illustrations of scenes from popular Charles Dickens novels like “Nicholas Nickleby”; chromoxylograph illustration from Aunt Matilda series “The Little Deserter” (McLoughlin Bros., ca. 1869); illustrated children's book covers; and a finely-designed chromolithographic advertisement depicting allegorical figures, flowers, and produce to promote gardens (Lowell, Mass.)., Title supplied by cataloger., Small number of pages contain hand-coloring., Also originally included tucked-in partial editions of N.Y. newspapers issued in 1890. Issues housed in mylar and with scrapbook., Scrap depicting two racing horses and their jockeys pasted on back cover., Housed in phase box., Purchase 2012., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1869-ca. 1890, bulk 1880-1890]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2012.42]
- Title
- [Scrapbook with linen pages]
- Description
- Scrapbook containing scraps, cutouts, periodical illustrations, and trade cards. Contents depict sentimental, genre, and religious scenes; images of children, animals, mothers and mothering; fancy heads; patriotic, historical, and allegorical figures, including George and Martha Washington; advertisements for Philadelphia, Hartford (Conn.), and New York businesses, including promotions for druggists, patent medicines, and soap; imagery documenting the Centennial Exhibition 1876, including portraits of prominent figures; figures in European costumes; scenes of rural life and European scenery; and landscape views. Also includes a small number of views of factories and industrial buildings; a patent medicine advertisement including an African American man servant character opening a door (p. 76); a print depicting a stanza from Robert Burn’s “The Cotter’s Saturday Night” (p. 22); illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood; the periodical cartoon “A Parent’s Vengeance” (p. 53); "La Belle Chocolatiere from the original painting by Leotard now in the Dresden Gallery" (p. 57); a cutout from a women’s fashion plate (p. 77); H.M.S. Pinafore theatrical character illustrations printed by Ledger Job Printing Office (p. 64); and a calling card for Mary S. Bassett (back inside cover)., Businesses represented include B. T. Babbit (soap); Clark’s O.N.T. (thread); C. F. Rump (leather goods); Corning & Tappan (perfumes); Marburg Bros. (tobacco); Devlin & Co. (clothiers); Dundas, Dirk & Co. (pharmacists); [Hiram] Duryea’s Starch Works; Fairbanks scales (E. & T. Fairbanks & Co.); J. Milton Brewer (druggist); C. L. Hauthaway & Sons (shoe polish); Charles S. Higgins (German laundry soap); The New York Bazar (fancy goods, Phillip Isaacs, proprietor); Demorest’s Monthly Magazine (W. J. Demorest, publisher); Edwin C. Burt (shoes); E. P. & Wm. Kellogg; Samuel Gerry & Cos. (patent medicine); Alex. Boost (analytical chemist); Chas. F. Hurd & Co. (chinaware); E. P. & Wm. Kellogg (photographers & art dealers); and Willcox & Gibbs (sewing machines)., Title supplied by cataloger., Front cover stamped: Scrap Book, Various artists, engravers, and printers including F. Beard; Illman Bros.; Ledger Job Print; L. Prang & Co.; Major & Knapp; Thomas Moran; and Shober & Carqueville., Cutouts and calling card pasted to inside front and back covers., Edges of scrapbook leaves contains stitching in different colors, including yellow, green, blue, red, lilac, and purple., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., Housed in phase box., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1876-ca. 1879]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Linen [P.2013.69.1]