Search results

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, looking toward the viewer marching with a drum strapped to his chest, and holding midstrike padded drumsticks in both hands. The man is attired in a white top hat adorned with a black ribbon, a red and white patterned jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and blue pants with a yellow stripe. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.105]

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, smiling, holding a large tambourine in his right hand, and raising his left leg in the air in a skipping motion. The man is attired in a blue jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and orange and white striped pants. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.106]

Title: Minstrels! Branch, 1602 South St
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting a large troupe of African American minstrels on a stage. Five of the men in the front row are seated in white chairs and a man in the center stands on his right leg with his arms wide. In the background are several palm trees. Visible in the center of the image is an ovular gold pendant with a caricatured portrait of a smiling African American man depicted with exaggerated features. He is attired in a white collared shirt, a red checkered necktie, and a brown jacket. The minstrel troupe is attired in white pants, red jackets, and white shoes. Some men hold red and white hats in their hands. The trade card is likely advertising Phillip Conway's business, Conway Gent's Furnisher, a custom clothing shop., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Minstrels [P.2017.95.131]

Title: Schaeffer Bros. Booksellers, stationers & fancy goods, 16 So. Union St. Middeltown PA
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man pulling a white man off of a table after a white boy seated behind them spilled a bottle of Carter's Mucilage. The African American man is attired in a blue and white striped collared shirt, a red vest, brown pants, and black boots. He leverages his right foot against the table and pulls the white man with both arms. The white man is attired in a top hat, a monocle, a brown jacket, a yellow vest, brown pants, and black shoes. The white boy is attired in a pink and white striped collared shirt and green pants. Visible on the floor in the foreground is the white man's cane and the African American man's upturned straw hat. The African American man is depicted with exaggerated features. Carter's Ink was founded in the early 19th century by Timothy H. Carter in Boston, Massachusetts. His sons William and Edward Carter, joined the business in the 1850s and took it over in 1860., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Carter's Mucilage, the great stickist., Advertising text printed on verso: How to get an ink that will suit you. For copying, and for general use, buy Carter's Combined Ink. This is the original Carter's ink. It flows freely, copies perfectly, does not transfer on books or smooch, does not mould or fade. After evaporation by exposure, restore fluidity by adding Carter's Writing Fluid. Carter's Raven Black Ink. For writing black from the word "go!" This is a black fluid; writes black; dries black; stays black; does not blot off pale, or get thick or ropy; does not corrode steel pens; can't be removed by acids. For book-keeping and fine writing, buy Carter's Writing Fluid, which is chemically pure, without sediment and permanent. It is very limpid, and will not mould or thicken even after long exposure. The color is dark blue, changing to a deep black. For ruling, buy Carter's Crimson Fluid, which is more brilliant than Carmine, never thickens, and gives a good copy. For a brilliant colored ink, buy Carter's W. & C. Violet Ink. It is non-corrosive; flows freely and gives distinct copies. For "sticking things," buy Carter's Mucilage, "The Great Stickist." It has extra strength and will not mould or sour in any climate. In a recent canvas made of the banks and leading business housesin the principal cities of the United States, more of the above inks were found in use than all other American inks combined. At Paris, at the Centennial, and wherever exhibited for the past twenty years, they have received the highest awards. Carter, Dinsmore & Co., Boston and New York. For sale by Booksellers, Stationers, Fancy Goods Dealers, &c., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Schaeffer [P.2017.95.154]

Title: And he got!
Description: Racist trade card specimen depicting a scene of barefooted, African American men knocked about from a kicking mule in the middle of a field. In the center, a mule equipped with a saddle and reins, kicks its back feet into the air, above a wooden board lying on the ground. In the right, a man attired in a red shirt and white and blue checked pants, tumbles onto his back and with his legs in the air. Near him a man attired in yellow pants with red polka dots and an orange, checked shirt, runs away. In the left, a man attired in yellow pants and an orange shirt falls to the ground, head first and upside down. In the lower left, the lower leg and bare foot of a person attired in red checked pants and running away is visible. In the background, a man with a hat and checked red shirt stands with both arms up in the air in alarm. Two figures gathering crops are also visible in the distance., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - And he got [P.2017.95.196]

Title: "They all do it"
Description: Racist trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American man kissing a caricature of an African American woman on a bench in front of a house while people look on. Shows the African American man, attired in a hat, a white collared shirt, a waistcoat, a black jacket, plaid pants, and shoes, sitting on a bench. He carries a stick in his left hand and wraps his right arm around the African American woman’s neck and kisses her cheek. The woman, attired in a long-sleeved dress and apron, sits next to the man on the bench. She holds a flower in her hand on her lap and smiles. In the house behind the bench, a man, a woman, and a boy look down and smile at the couple from the second story window. In the left, a boy, attired in a hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and pants with a suspender, sits on the wooden fence with his back turned to the viewer. In the foreground is a dog scratching its ear., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - They [P.2017.95.209]

Title: Who's dar?
Description: Racist, trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American man eating honeycomb in a bear’s cave. Shows the barefooted African American man portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a red collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and blue pants with the cuffs rolled up to his knees. He sits on the ground inside a cave and smiles as he holds a large piece of honeycomb in his hands. In the right are many large pieces of honeycomb. In the background, the back of a bear is visible climbing out of the cave through an opening above and to the right of the man's head., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Series number printed on recto: 24., Copyright statement printed on recto: Copyright., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. 10 [P.2017.95.221]

Title: [African American man on a mule-drawn plow]
Description: Racist, trade card specimen 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., Title devised by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Series number printed on recto: 468., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. 15 [P.2017.95.226]

Title: [African American man jockey]
Description: Die-cut scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American man jockey. Shows the bust-length portrait of the man smiling and facing left. He is attired in a red and yellow jockey cap and a red and yellow jockey shirt, which has a yellow tie., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 18 [P.2017.95.271]

Title: [African American man sailor]
Description: Die-cut scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American man sailor. Shows the bust-length portrait of the man smiling and looking to the right. He is attired in a straw hat with a blue band and a blue sailor’s outfit with a black bowtie., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 19 [P.2017.95.272]

Title: [African American man jockey]
Description: Die-cut scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American man jockey attired in a red jockey cap with yellow stripes and a blue band, a white collared shirt and bowtie, a red jacket, and a gold earring. Shows the bust-length portrait of the man smiling and facing to the right., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 26 [P.2017.95.278]

Title: Customer. "Rather cool weather Pete, for a close crop like that." Pete. "Can't help it Boss---the proprietor says long hairs gits in de wittles."
Description: Reproduction of a drawing of a racist, comic scene showing an African American waiter serving a bearded, white man seated at a restaurant table. The African American waiter is depicted with exaggerated features, including an oblong-shaped head. He wears a black suit, a white shirt with a high collar, and an apron around his waist. The waiter stands beside the table that is covered in a tablecloth. He rests his left hand on it and holds a bowl of soup on a saucer in his right. The customer, attired in a tuxedo, rests his left arm near a pitcher, glass, napkin and condiment display on the table. In the background, a bald man, sits and eats at a nearby table. Paneling adorns the walls of the restaurant on which the morphed shadow of the waiter is visible., Title printed on negative., Yellow mount with curved corners., Date inferred from attire of depicted figures., Gift of David Long., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unid. photo - Portraits & Genre [P.2018.16.8]

Title: Mirth! music! originality! The success of the season! "Jollities"
Description: Racist trade card promoting “The Electrical Doll” play at the Gaiety Theatre in Boston. Depicts a caricature of an older African American man, possibly a peddler, carrying a dead duck and a basket of produce. The man is balding and has tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and is attired in plaid pants, a collared shirt, a collared jacket, and a plaid scarf tied around his neck. He holds a dead duck by the legs in his left hand. Around his left shoulder, he carries a straw handled basket, which has the leaves of a vegetable sticking out of it. Behind him in the background is a shelf that has a bottle and a glass on it. The Gaiety Theatre in Boston was located on Washington Street between West and Avery Streets. The 800-seat theater operated from 1878 to 1882 when it became the Bijou Theatre. Charles Atkinson with his Jollities theatre troupe produced comedic plays, including “The Electrical Doll,” which was written by Clinton G. Parrefield with music by J. Adalim. It first appeared in December, 1879 and ran for a number of years in America and Europe., Title from item., Publication information and date inferred from the content., Text printed on the recto: (Over.), Advertising text printed on the verso: Boston Press Notes. [Boston Herald, Dec. 14.]“Standing room only.” and precious little of that, was what late comers at the Gaiety Theatre found last evening. One of the largest audiences ever gathered in this cosy little house extended to the ‘Jollities’ Combination such a welcome as to dispel all doubts, if, indeed, any existed, that the levees to be given during the present week by “The Electrical Doll” will be little short of a perfect ovation.” [Boston Post, Dec. 14.] “The ‘Jollities’ presented the ‘Electrical Doll,” the funniest of all musical absurdities, before an over-flowing house last evening at the Gaiety, and gave universal satisfaction.” [Boston Globe, Dec. 14.] The Jollities. “There was not a vacant seat at the cosy Gaiety last evening. Why? Simply from the fact that Manager Gouge, who knows just what a Boston audience requires, gave one of the best performances that has graced this theatre this season. If good acting, splendid singing, bright and witty dialogue, with a capital orchestra—whose sparkling music was rendered under the baton of J.A. Norris in such an acceptable manner that encores were demanded—deserve to be called first-class, then a faint idea may be conceived of the excellencies of the Jollities Combination entertainment.”, [Boston Journal, Dec. 14.] Gaiety Theatre—“The Jollities Combination is well named, for jollier lot of performers could scarcely be brought together. At the Gaiety Theatre, last night, they appeared before a large audience in a two-act musical piece entitled ‘The Electrical Doll.” On the bills the piece is called an ‘absurdity,’ and it is deliciously absurd, yet marked by a consistency that places it as a composition for the stage very far ahead of the majority of similar productions. The Jollities deserve full houses during their stay of a week, and all who attend their clever entertainments are certain to be pleased.”, Printed with green ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Gaiety [P.2017.95.67]

Title: I. Knopf, fine shoes, also trunks & valises. 822 Market St. Phila
Description: Racist trade card promoting I. Knopf's shoe store and depicting a racist caricature of an African American man portrayed with exaggerated features and carrying two bouquets of flowers. Shows the rotund, African American man attired in a yellow hat, a monocle, a white shirt with a red striped collar, a blue bowtie, a yellow waistcoat with red checks, a purple jacket, white gloves, yellow pants, and brown shoes. He holds up two multi-colored flower bouquets, including red roses and white daisies, in his hands. Isidor Knopf (1848-1934) had a store selling shoes and luggage at 822 Market Street, Philadelphia in the 1880s. In the 1900s, he became a pawnbroker at 2501 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia. He advertised in the newspapers as I. Knopf & Sons when he sold forfeited clothing and jewelry from his pawnbroking business as late as 1910., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from place of operation of the advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Knopf [P.2017.95.99]

Title: Go to Edelman's for your kid gloves, zephyrs, ribbons and hosiery, 335 Northampton St., Easton, PA
Description: Trade card promoting Edelman's store and depicting a satiric, racist caricature of an older African American man misunderstanding an operator to whom he speaks on a wall-mounted telephone. He faces the viewer, leans against the wall, and remarks in vernacular speech "dis chile's rich...dis man... gib me de city hall." The man is balding and has tufts of hair on the sides of his head. He has a white beard and is attired in a beige coat, an undersized, green vest with buttons, and blue plaid pants rolled up at the bottom exposing his socks and black shoes. On the ground beside his feet is a banjo and brimmed hat. M.A. Edelman had a shoe store on 146 Northampton Street, Easton, PA circa 1871. Circa 1880s, he opened a store selling women's accessories on 335 Northampton Street., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement: Copyright 1883 by J H. Bufford's Sons., Text printed on recto: Golly! I guess dis chile's rich- dis man him say wait a minute and him gib me de city hall., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Edelman [P.2017.95.54]

Title: Out of Vacuum Harness Oil in an inland town. People cannot exist without it. Sold by WM. R. Fero, dealer in dry goods, groceries, hardware, hats, etc. Glen, N.Y
Description: Racist trade card illustration advertising Vacuum Harness Oil and depicting an African American man riding a horse. The man is attired in an orange long-sleeved shirt, yellow checkered pants, and black boots. The man is portrayed with exaggerated features. Vacuum Harness Oil was founded by Hiram Bond Everest and Matthew P. Ewing in 1866. Standard Oil Trust acquired Vacuum Oil Company in 1879., Title from item., Advertising text on verso: The celebrated Vacuum Harness Oil is put up in Quart, Pint and Half-Pint Cans with Gilt Labels, and warranted full measure., Distributor's imprint printed on recto: Sold by Wm. R. Fero, dealer in dry goods, groceries, hardware, hats, etc. Glen, N.Y., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Vacuum [P.2017.95.180]

Title: Van Stan's Stratena, the best cement in the world Great lecture on Van Stan's Stratena by Julius Augustus Cesar at Ethiopian Hall. Mends china, glass, wood, bone, metal, jet, coral, porcelain, leather, ivory, stone, &c. &c
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man lecturing in front of an audience of well-dressed African American men on a stage. The lecturer leans on a wooden table and is attired in a brown jacket, a tan vest, a white shirt with gold cuff links, a white bowtie, blue pants, and black shoes. Rolls of paper stick out from the man's back pocket. The man's upturned top hat is visible underneath the table. A decorative object advertising Stratena and a cup sit on the table. All of the men are depicted with exaggerated features. Van Stan's Stratena was manufcatured in Philadelphia during the late 19th century., Title from item., Advertising text on recto: One drop of dis yere Stratena on de conscience of a politician will make him stick to his principles. One drop on de mariage certificate will prevent de divorce court from separating you from de wife of your bosom. Do you hear me! Gentlemen I am a talking., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Van Stran [P.2017.95.182]

Title: W.H. & S.V. Lines
Description: Racist trade card showing an African American man facing the left and depicted in bust-length. The man is attired in a straw hat, from which three chicks peek out, and a collared shirt. He is depicted with exaggerated features., Title from item., Advertising text on verso: Boots, shoes, rubbers, trunks & bags. Good goods! Low prices! All the novelties. Buying direct in large lots to supply our seven stores enables us to sell cheaper than other dealers. Stores at Rochester, Schenectady, Ithaca, Amsterdam, Elmira, Lockport, and Geneva, N.Y. W.H. Lines, S.V. Lines, Jr., Text printed on recto: Injured innocence. I hain't seen nuffin of yer chickens! Do yer took me for a thief? Do yer see any chickens 'bout me? Go' way dar, white man! Treat a bo 'spectable if he am brack!, Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - W.H & S.V. Lines [P.2017.95.184]

Title: For the holidays, good dinners, &c., to be had at the Model Coffee House, Chas. Huber, Proprietor No. 48 East Seneca Street, Buffalo, N.Y. Separate room for ladies
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man cook delivering food to a table and two blonde-haired white children trailing him. In the foreground is a table with a red and white tablecloth. Plates of food, trays, and a pitcher are visible on the table. A fish is depicted atop a plate at the center of the table and a tray in the right bears bunches of grapes and bears. Behind the three figures are shrubbery and a trellis covered in leafy vines. The cook is attired in a white chef's hat and uniform and is depicted with exaggerated features. The young white girl dons a red ribbon in her hair. Charles Huber owned a restaurant, Model Coffee House, in Buffalo, New York during the late nineteenth century., Title from item., Date inferred from content and genre of print., Advertising text printed on recto: Separate room for ladies., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Model [P.2017.95.133]

Title: S.H. Zahm & Co., dealers in new and second-hand books, stationery and blank books, Nos. 18 & 20 South Queen Street, Lancaster, PA
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an elderly African American man looking out of a window. The gray-haired man is attired in a red long-sleeved shirt and gold-rimmed spectacles. He holds a newspaper in both hands and a pipe in his left hand. The man looks toward the right side of the image and his mouth is agape. He is depicted with exaggerated features. S.H Zahm & Co. was owned by Samuel Hensel Zahm and his business partner Samuel Auxer. Zahm was an active member of the Lancaster community and was a member of the board of health, the Lancaster County Historical Society, and the Pennsylvania German Society. He was also a collector of Native American artifacts., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - S.H. Zahm [P.2017.95.151]

Title: 50 new elegant embossed chromo cards with your name printed on them, for only 8 cents in stamps. This offer lasts only till October 30, after that our regular price will be charged. Address Star Card Co., East Boston, Mass. Box 38
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man peering over a fence and gazing downard. The man is attired in a cap and holds a cane in his left hand. His right hand grips the top of the fence. A sign on the fence bears the advertising text promoting personalized greeting cards. Below the sign is a notice that reads, "Post No Bills." The African American man is depicted with exggerated features., Title from item., Advertising text printed on verso: Read! Read! These cards are something new, Gold Floral, Rememberance, Sentimental, Hand Floral, etc. with Love Friendship and Holiday Mottoes. Besides this maginificent offer we give with every pack, 10 pieces New and Popular music, and with 6 packs we give a fine Nicle-Plated Pocket Fruit knife. Try us once. We want an agent in every city and town. We give fine premiums, or we will allow you to retain 25 cts. on eah Dollars worth of orders sent. Send stamp for Premium List, Circulars, and how to become an agent. It pays. Address Star Card Co., East Boston, Mass., Text is printed in red ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Star [P.2017.95.166]

Title: Compliments of McGeoch & Pierce
Description: Racist trade card depicting African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, smiling, holding a large tambourine in his right hand, and raising his left leg in the air in a skipping motion. The man is attired in a blue jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and orange and white striped pants. McGeoch & Pierce was a clothing firm partly owned by M.L. Pierce in Greenwich, New York. Pierce joined the firm in 1881., Title from stamp on item., Date inferred from operation dates of advertised business as referenced in biographical entry for M.L. Pierce in "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton Counties, Nebraska, Comprising a Condensed History of the State" (Chicago, 1890), p. 784., Advertising text on verso: Temple of Fashion, 83 Main St., Greenwich, N.Y. McGeoch & Pierce, Carry The Best Selected Stock of Clothing in Washington County. Mens' and Boy's Suits & Overcoats In all the New and desirable goods and styles. Fine Goods and Perfect Fit A Specialty. For your next suit call on McGeoch & Pierce, The Leaders in Low Prices., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - McGeoch [P.2017.95.116]

Title: Machinist.
Description: The machinist holds a hammer and pushes against a brace., Text: In the shop there's none so smart as you / At mending a boiler or making a screw. / Where is your means of supporting a wife, / And supplying her wants throughout her life? / Your wages are small, every one knows / The principal part to the port-house goes! / Faint hope to gain a woman's heart, / By one so well known as thou art., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: Savage by nature, and savage by looks,
Description: The valentine shows a darkened man with facial hair, yellow legs that may be socks, and caucasian features. He wears a red loin cloth and carries a small ax. Nena Sahib played a prominent role in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and the valentine uses racist and Orientalist references to critique the recipient's behavior and appearance., Text: Savage by nature, and savage by looks, / You scare chambermaids and frighten the cooks. / What a fate is hers that is linked to thine! / I'd rather have Nena Sahib for my Valentine., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [not before 1857]

Title: A Light Cavalryman.
Description: The cavalryman sits on a much smaller horse and holds his sword out in front of him. The valentine mocks his gluttony., Text: With sword just like a carving knife / As I'm a living sinner / You look just like a hungry man / A charging on good dinner., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [1861-1865?]

Title: Vain Old Fool.
Description: A man is a bird, and a woman is a fish. He opens his beak over her head. The valentine mocks the recipient for trying to marry a younger woman., Text: No fool like an old fool. O! for shame; / Pretending to feel love's hold flame; / The ladies laugh at your ogling eyes, / And shut their ears to your pumped up sighs., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: An Old Granny.
Description: The valentine shows an old man wearing sleeping clothes and a headscarf. A bowl marked "gruel" is on the table behind him, and he stands near a pile of bedding. The term "granny" mocks the recipient for being both old and effeminate, and the sender ridicules the recipient for thinking he can find a young wife., Text: Gouty and toothless, one foot in the grave, / You would like a young wife to make her a slave; / If you've luck you may get one, and if so, so be it -- / But for me, my dear granny, I can not see it., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: [Frederick A. Rex & Co. trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting coffee manufacturer Frederick A. Rex & Co. and depicting a fox leaping to grab grapes in its mouth from a vine running along the top of a tall stone wall. Racist trade card titled "An absorbing subject" and depicting a caricature an African American man lying on top of a barrel and drinking from it with a straw. Shows the barefooted man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a straw hat, a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and patched and torn pants. He lies straddling on top of a wooden barrel and rests his head in his hands. He closes his eyes as he drinks from a straw through a hole in the barrel. The barrel has a label pasted on it and is marked “XXX.” In the foreground, a painter’s palette leans against the front of the barrel. Frederick A. Rex (1850-1916) founded the Frederick A. Rex Company in the 1880s which manufactured coffee and tea. The firm had an office in Philadelphia and a mill in Camden, N.J., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9651.20] copyrighted 1881 by Geo. M. Hayes., One print [P.9651.20] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting "Peerless Coffee," the finest coffee sold, roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co., 39 North Front St., Philadelphia, with mills in Camden, New Jersey., Purchase 1999, 2001., 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. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Rex [P.9651.20 & P.9984.2]

Title: H. Jahke, wholesale & retail dealer in all descriptions of fresh & salt pork, hams, lard, tongues, &c. 130, 131, 132 & 133 Nineteenth St. market, residence, cor. Baring & Sloan Sts., West Phila
Description: 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]

Title: The eureka poisoned fly-plate will kill every fly in the house
Description: Trade card promoting Eureka Fly Plate Co. and depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, observing the fly plate kill a swarm of flies. The man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red jacket, and blue pants, stands holding a broom, which he uses to sweep dead flies from the table in the left. On the table is the fly plate that fills with flies. Above the table is a window., Title from item., 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. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Eureka [1975.F.294]

Title: [Armand Dalsemer trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards for Armand Dalsemer's "fine shoes" and "common sense shoes" at 136 North Eighth Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a grinning African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, standing in an open window holding a newspaper labeled "The American Citizen"; a cherub sitting on a lily pad in a lily pond; and a portrait of a little girl wearing a bonnet., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Sunshine Publishing Company (Philadelphia) and Leon Meyers, 29 S. Liberty St., 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 - Dalsemer [1975.F.15; 1975.F.19; 1975.F.286]

Title: He dreamt dat from away off thar de angels sent him news. He 'woke and found it was Dunbarr dat sent dem bully shoes; 60 N. Fourth St. Philadelphia
Description: Racist, satiric trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, pants with patches at the knee, and old shoes, sleeping with his back resting against a haystack in a field. A rifle is propped on the haystack beside him. An African American angel with wings flies toward the sleeping man with a pair of boots in his outstretched right hand. In the background is a scarecrow. Text printed on the recto describing the scene is written in the vernacular. Burns & Zeigler succeeded the firm of Geo. S. Clogg & Son in 1875., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business., Contains advertising text printed on verso: E. L. Burns. F. T. Zeigler. Burns & Zeigler, dealers in fashionable boots and shoes, No. 1109 Pennsylvania Avenue, betw. Eleventh and Twelfth Sts., Washington, D.C. F. Lisiewski & Co., prs., 639 Arch St., 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.
Creator: Donaldson Brothers (Firm)
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Burns & Zeigler [1975.F.33]

Title: [Proofs from specimen album loose prints collection]
Description: Contains proofs, primarily of advertising vignettes, depicting views of factories and storefronts predominantly in Ohio. Businesses depicted include manufacturers of saddlery hardware, "burial cases," sewing machines, and glass; dealers of liquor, dairy supplies, wallpaper and painter supplies; and engravers, printers, and lithographers. Vignettes often include street and pedestrian traffic. Prints also show portraits of men, women, and children; genre and satiric scenes, including the stereotype character "Uncle Remus" (portrayed in racist caricature) designed for trade cards; pictorial and border details designed for certificates, labels, and billheads; machinery and transportation vehicles; trademarks and seals; and a rocking chair. Series also contains a reward of merit designed as a stock certificate and an uncut sheet of six illustrations titled in German. Illustrations primarily depict historical and religious scenes, including the conversion of Saint Eustace., Title supplied by cataloger., Various printers, including H.J. Toudy & Co. and W.J. Morgan & Co., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Gift of Margaret Robinson, 1991., 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., Added to African Americana Digital Collection 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. 1860-ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimens Album Loose Prints Collection - Proofs [P.9349.296, 308, 320, 339, 342, 344-347, 349, 351-353, 360, 365, 416, 419, 427-430, 443, 445]

Title: Franks Dining Room, for ladies and gents, open day and night, 216 N. Ninth St., Phila
Description: Racist trade card promoting the restaurant of Frank Tiefenthaler and depicting an African American man, portrayed in caricature with grotesque facial features. Shows the man, portrayed with a blank stare and attired in a striped, long-sleeved shirt, eating from several stacked bowls of "mush." He holds a spoonful of porridge close to his open mouth from within a wooden pantry. Illustration also shows the open door to the pantry. Tiefenthaler began to operate his restaurant from 216 North 9th Street in 1884. Tiefenthaler died in 1934 retired from business, but was listed in city directories as operating a dining room through the early 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of advertised business., Printed above image: "Mush-Room.", Printed in blue., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - F [P.2015.35.2]

Title: Mechanical target and gun. Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co., 813 Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Pa
Description: Illustrated flier for "comic head" mechanical target issued by the Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Company. Contains image of target (Patented Aug 28 1877), which includes the racist, comic head of an African American clown, portrayed in caricature with a slack jaw and grotesque features, and pictorial details of the "Target Arrow" (Pat. Sep. 5 1876). Flier also contains vignette of "Toy Target Arrow For Boys and Girls." Shows a child's hand pulling the arrow through an egg-shaped barrel. Vignette surrounded by advertising text reading "Throws the Arrow very accurately, and affords hours of amusement for both young and old. Made of hard wood, finely polished, beautifully colored. Price, per gross, $35.00 nett. Sample, by mail, 50 cts." Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co. operated until at the least the 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Several lines of advertising text printed below image explicating the size, construction, price, and shipping of toy, and advertising potential of "Target and Envelope." Text also includes the solicitation that "Agents can earn over $30,000 weekly, and Canvassers from house to house more than $3.00 daily, selling our different Novelties. We would like to make you an Agent, and if you send out Sub Agents you can make upwards of $2,000 yearly.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1877]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Advertisements - M [P.2013.36.4]

Title: A new song suitable to the season, to the tune of good English beer
Description: A cartoon supporting the Old Ticket Party of Pennsylvania which advocated a conversion from a proprietary government to a royal colony. Depicts well-to-do Philadelphians in a tavern drinking and singing "Huzza Old ticket, Old Ticket Forever." An African American server serves the men as he states in patois his support of the Old Ticket. As the devil exits the tavern, he indicates his support for the New Ticket Party which supported the existing proprietary government. Contains an electioneering song of six verses from which the depicted Philadelphians sing verses. The tavern was often used as a place to canvass election support and treat voters., Place and date of publication supplied by Evans., Possibly the work of Henry Dawkins., 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., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [1765]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons -[1765] - New [959.F.87a]

Title: The results of abolitionism!
Description: Cartoon reflecting the fear among Northern white workers of job competition with free African Americans. Depicts African American men bricklayers, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in vernacular, on a construction site giving orders to white laborers in a reversal of roles. The laborers work on a large multi-storied brick building fronted by scaffolding and a ladder. The African American supervisors hold trowels and stand at the top of the scaffolding. They hurl orders and abuse at white workers exclaiming: "Bring up the mortar you white rascals" and "You bog-trotters, come along with them bricks." An African American man standing on the ground, attired as a dandy, exclaims, "White man hurry up them bricks." A white man climbs the ladder and two white men work on the ground shoveling and picking up bricks. Another white man stands and says, "Sambo hurry up the white laborers.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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. 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Political Cartoons - 1835 - Res [5780.F.1]

Title: I take it on my responsibility
Description: Cartoon critical of Andrew Jackson's decision to discontinue federal deposits to the Bank of the United States and his denial that his informal circle of close advisors, known as the "Kitchen Cabinet," influenced his decision. Depicts Jackson pinned to a column at the top of the stairs of the bank as he and other white men are being drenched by white men wielding fire hoses, one labeled "United States," in the street. Near Jackson, a kettle boils, fueled by burning papers labeled "Constitution" and "Globe," the pro-Jackson newspaper. Behind him several men, one labeled "K.C.," are involved in altercations. Other men run down the steps, one colliding with an African American man carrying barrels. In the street, a rotund white man, attired in a military uniform, observes the soaking of Jackson with delight while two other white men appear to be coming to Jackson's aid., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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: [1834]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1834-12W [5760.F.57]

Title: Much ado about nothing or a militia court-martial!!
Description: Spoof on the decadence and pretensions of the American local militiamen of the Jacksonian era showing a courtmartial of a militiaman. Several white officers sit around a table, many dozing, others commenting on the trial's length, stipend, and eventual outcome. Behind them rest oversize militia hats and a sword inscribed in Latin, "Guided by Patriotism." Two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, presume that the officer holding the "List of Witnesses" and who is inquiring about the defendant’s profession "...mus be Col. Pluck or some sich great man." The defendant claims that he is "a self taught gentleman" who "showed considerable genius for this profession." Col. Pluck was an illiterate hostler elected colonel of the 84th Pennsylvania militia in a controversial election in 1824., Title from item., Artist supplied by Reilly., Possible publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1970., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Johnston, known as the American Cruikshank, was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
Creator: Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
Date: [between 1832 and 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1832-3 [7876.F]

Title: Scent to the legislature
Description: Racist cartoon expressing disdain for African Americans who were elected to office as a result of Reconstruction. Depicts a bust-length portrait of an African American man legislator, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque features, attired in a white collared shirt, a plaid bowtie, a waistcoat, and a jacket, smiling. He is flanked by two white men legislators who hold their noses as though he had a bad "scent." Many African American legislators were targeted as the source of corruption in politics during the era., Title from item., Date of publication of 1868 is used as the content suggests that the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment has occurred. Weitenkampf suggests an earlier date of 1865 arguing that African Americans were elected to office during the early era of Reconstruction, Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1868?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1868 Sce [5760.F.117]

Title: Jeff. Davis., the compromiser, in a tight place
Description: Cartoon expressing Northern exasperation with Jefferson Davis's attempt to negotiate for peace in 1865. Depicts Davis being slammed between the doors of the "United States Senate" by Uncle Sam and an armed Zouave soldier. Davis carrying on his back a bundle of "Compromise Goods. Latest Styles" begs the unsympathetic soldier to let him alone as Uncle Sam holding a noose declares that Davis has cheated him too often and deserves execution. In the left, an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, holds a "Trinkets" box and says in the vernacular, "It pears to me, Massa Davis bring his goods to de wrong market dis time. All de better for cullored folks, Yah! Yah!", Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1865-1W [5795.F.a]

Title: Two souls with but a single thought
Description: Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith of a racist depiction of African Americans in caricature by comic artist, Thomas Worth. Depicts a young and dapperly-dressed African American couple eating a piece of watermelon on a porch as the parents of one of the couple watches them from a doorway. Seated on a bench, the woman, wearing her hair tied up with a pink ribbon and attired in a blue shirt with buttons down the center, a white skirt with ruffles at the bottom, red and black checked stockings, and black shoes, sits beside the man, attired in a gray bowler hat, a white shirt with stripes, a gray waistcoat, gray and black striped pants, and black shoes. They hold a large slice of watermelon up together and bite from it while looking at one another. In the left, the mother, attired in a blue and pink plaid head kerchief, a pink and black striped shirt with a white lace collar, and a pink skirt, and the father, attired in a white collared shirt, a black waistcoat, and black pants, looks on at the couple from an open doorway. A banjo hangs from the post of the porch in the right. In the background, trees and the night sky is visible., Title from label on mount on verso., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides-Smith, Xanthus [P.9471]

Title: [Folk art portraits of two African American women and two African American men]
Description: Folk art bust-length portraits of two African American men and two African American women, portrayed in racist caricature, shown in a row, alternating woman, then man. In the left, the woman, wearing her hair in two braids tied with blue bows on either side of her head that stick out, with red lips, and attired in an off-the-shoulder blue dress with ruffles, faces forward with her eyes looking left. Beside her the man, with red lips and attired in a white collared shirt, a pink tie, and a black jacket, slightly faces left and his eyes look at the woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied in multiple braids, with pink lips, and attired in a pink, ruffled dress, looks to the left. In the right, the man, with pink lips and attired in a blue bowtie, a white shirt with blue stripes, and a black jacket, faces left and looks at the woman., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1909]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors - Unidentified - Faces [P.9057.28]

Title: St. Johns Episcopal Church's minstral club - graphic of minstral show April 12 and 13, 1901
Description: Negative blocked with marking tape depicting a bust-length portrait of an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature wearing a beard and attired in a bowler hat. Contains name of minstrel club and performance dates. Along the top are small photographs including several portraits of white women, a large group portrait of white men and women, and a seated white man playing the guitar., Title from negative sleeve., Duplicate: St. John's club minstrels, Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13 1901 (cartoon). [P.9645.743], Gift of Matthew Schultz, 1998., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Levis, Seth Pancoast, photographer
Date: [1901]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department 4x5 Glass Negatives - Levis [P.9645.1038]

Title: [Simian circus rider atop a galloping horse]
Description: Racist print, possibly a performance handbill, depicting a simian rider attired in a military uniform and a plumed hat. He holds an American flag as he stands on top of the horse's saddle, which gallops in a circus ring., Title supplied by cataloger., Print pasted on back of ledger page with manuscript notes., Possibly by engraver Samuel Anness who resided in Philadelphia in 1818., Purchase 1997., 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. 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Entertainment [P.9557.2b]

Title: Fred C. Davis, land surveyor and insurance agent, Felchville, VT., will insure against all kinds of accidents
Description: Trade card promoting surveyor and insurance agent Fred C. Davis and depicting a racist caricature of an African American man on a horse-drawn plow. Shows the man barely seated, leaning back, and with his legs in the air on the plow. He holds broken reins in his hands to a brown horse running away in the left. The man is depicted with exaggerated features. His mouth is open in alarm. He is attired in brown boots, blue checked pants and shirt, and a brown vest. His hat has flown off his head behind him. The roof of a house is visible in the left background. Fred C. Davis was an insurance agent in Vermont circa 1884 - circa 1921., Title from item., Series number on recto: 468., Text printed on recto: Over., Text printed on verso: Insurance companies represented. Assets January 1, 1888. Phoenix, of Hartford...$4,778,469.00. Phenix, of Brooklyn... 5,054,179.51. North British & Mercantile, of London and Edinburg... 3,301,747.00. New England, of Rutland... 125,414.40. Vermont Mutual...3,530,434.82. Fitchburgh Mutual. Travelers (Life and Accident) of Hartford...9,111,589.68., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1884
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Davis [P.2017.95.40]

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: P.J. Brankin, artistic painter, no. 1815 N. Fifth Street, Philadelphia
Description: Trade card promoting painter P.J. Brankin and depicting a racist genre scene of an African American man being teasingly awoken by African American children. Figures are caricaturized and portrayed with exaggerated features. Shows a man, attired in a red, checkered shirt, blue pants, and one black boot, lying on his back, his right knee up, atop a large, white bundle. The boot on his left foot has fallen to the ground near his hat lying in front of the bundle. His left foot is bare. In the right, two mischievous boys peer around and over the bundle. The former, attired in a blue shirt, crouches to the ground from behind the bundle while the latter, attired in a yellow shirt with orange polka dots and orange pants, stretches out his right arm to poke the man's face with a piece of straw. In the background is a steamboat on a river. P.J. Brankin (1853-1928) was a house and sign painter who served as a president of the Master Painters' Association. By the 1920s, he was building and selling houses., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business and visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Brankin [P.2017.95.17]

Title: Gantz, Jones & Co.'s sea foam
Description: Series of trade cards containing captioned scenes in silhouette and profile, including racist imagery, that promote and portray the use of the New York firm's baking powder in cooking. "The First Lesson in Cooking" shows a matron-like figure (in the right) holding out a can of "Sea Foam" baking powder to three young woman standing in a row (in the left). The older woman is attired in a long-sleeved dress with a tiered skirt and bustle, spectacles, and an adornment in her hair. The young women wear long-sleeved dresses with tiered skirts and bustles and hair ornaments that resemble pointed caps. The woman closest to the matron also holds a parasol in her right hand and the woman in the far left also wears a long braid that runs down her back. The women look at and lean toward the baking powder can with interest. "Mine is the Best" shows a woman home cook and a professional male cook facing off. In the right, the man, holds his right hand in a fist, and points behind himself to a table on which a can of "Sea Foam" and a bowl rest. In the left, the woman points at him with her left hand and with her right hand points behind herself at a table on which a bowl and two canisters rest. The man wears a mustache, baker's hat, long smock, and pants. The woman wears a long-sleeved dress with an apron. "Missus, We'll Nebber Use Any Odder!" shows an African American man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and holding an extra-large "Sea Foam" can, walking toward a stove at which a woman is kneeled and placing something in the oven. A pot and tea kettle rest atop of the stove across from the stove pipe. The woman wears her hair down and is attired in a long-sleeved dress with ruffles at the bodice and a skirt with bustle., Gantz, Jones, & Co. was originally established as a chemical business in 1849 by Thomas Andrews. George W. Gantz joined the firm in 1853. About 1869 Andrews retired and in 1877 Walter H. Gantz and F. B. Jones joined the business as partners. In 1884 the firm's New York warehouse was heavily damaged by fire and in 1890 the partnership dissolved. Following the 1856 patent of the first modern baking powder, several later 19th-century chemical firms, including Gantz, Jones & Co. attempted to capitalize on the new, very profitable baking powder industry. Baking powder significantly lessened leaving times for baking and cooking, and multiple companies began to market either cream of tartar or alum based powders that required no combining at home. The "Baking Powder Wars" mired in propaganda about the pure and safe properties of various firms' products ended in the early 20th century with alum baking powder companies Clabber Girl and Calumet dominating the American industry., Title from items., Date inferred from attire of figures portrayed and format of advertisements., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.1, "The First Lesson in Cooking": It is a first-class article, and will do more than it claims to do, and never fails to do its work well. Good health makes labor of all kinds easier and prolongs life. Sea foam is warranted to make better, lighter, healthier, sweeter, more toothsome and more [in italics] digestive [in italics] and nutritious bread, biscuits, cakes, puddings, etc., than can be made in any other way. Those who use it say: "We prefer it over all others." "It is A No. 1." "Gives universal satisfaction.", Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.2,"Mine is the Best": SEA FOAM BAKING POWDER IS PERFECTLY PURE. Those who have used it once will never use any other. The BEST in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Without an equal. It is the perfection of science in cookery. Your cookery will be always good. You will always have a good cook. It makes every cook a good one. Your bread will never be sour. Light, well-raised bread, biscuits, and cakes digest easily and conduce to good health., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.3, "Missus, We'll Nebber Use any Odder!": Bread is always good. Cannot be beaten. Champion Yeast Powder of America. Every body likes it. Sells like hot cakes. The best customers ask for it. It is A No. 1. The ladies never get tired of telling each other about it. All first-class stores keep it. Gantz's Sea Foam is perfectly pure. Without an equal [in italics]. It is an entirely new invention. Never fails to make light bread. To avoid dyspepsia, use Sea Foam. One can is worth three of any other., Captions printed in all capitals., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Gantz, Jones & Co. [P.2018.6.3.1-3]

Title: Bissell & Underwood, wholesale and retail dealers in staple and fancy groceries, provisions, flour, fruit, canned goods, choice teas, spices, &c., &c., Turner's block, Church Street, Willimantic Conn
Description: Trade card promoting grocers Bissell & Underwood and depicting a racist scene of barefooted, African American men knocked about from a kicking mule in the middle of a cottonfield. In the center, a mule equipped with a saddle and reins, kicks its back feet into the air, above a wooden board lying on the ground. In the right, a man attired in a blue shirt and white, checked pants, tumbles onto his back and with his legs in the air. Near him a man attired in blue and white striped pants and an orange, checked shirt, runs away. In the left, a man attired in blue pants and a white shirt falls to the ground, head first and upside down. In the lower left, the lower leg and bare foot of a person attired in blue and white striped pants and running away is visible. In the background, a man with a hat and checked shirt stands with both arms up in the air in alarm. Two figures gathering cotton are also visible in the distance. Bissell & Underwood's store was closed and sold for auction in 1881., Title from item., Name of publisher from copyright statement: Copyrighted Bufford, Boston., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on the recto: And he got!, Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Bissell [P.2017.95.13]

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