Search results

Title: [Caricature of a laughing African American man]
Description: Bust-length portrait depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, laughing with his head tilted back to the right, eyes closed and mouth wide open, as he reads a "Texas" newspaper. He is attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, and a jacket., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., 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., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, in national and international photography exhibitions. His work won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.184]

Title: [Caricature of a laughing African American man]
Description: Bust-length portrait depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, laughing with his head tilted back to the right, eyes slightly open, and mouth wide open, as he reads a "Texas" newspaper. He is attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, and a jacket., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., 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., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, in national and international photography exhibitions. His work won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.185]

Title: [Early model for Freedmen's Memorial by Thomas Ball]
Description: Front and oblique views with a dark background, likely photographed in Thomas Ball's studio, showing his model for a design later proposed and adapted for the Freedman's Memorial to Lincoln (erected 1876, Washington, D.C.) that was first discussed as a Lincoln monument in the later 1860s. Shows the model composed of a figure of Abraham Lincoln (left) and a kneeling, emancipated, enslaved Black man figure (right). The Black man figure, is portrayed in left profile, looking out toward the vista, and with his left knee to the ground and his right knee bent. His left foot is arched up from the ground. He holds his left hand with his knuckles to the ground and his right hand across his waist and resting on the inner elbow of his left arm. The figure has curly hair and wears a Liberty cap and a loin cloth. Broken shackles adorn his wrists. The Lincoln figure, attired in a suit with a long coat, stands, looks down on the Black man figure, and holds out his left hand above the kneeling man, while his right hand holds the Emancipation Proclamation (semi-rolled) on a plinth decorated with patriotic symbols. Symbols include a profile portrait of George Washington, the fasces of the U.S. Republic, and a shield adorned with the stars and stripes. The base of the plinth is inscribed "T. Ball 1865." The figures rest on a base marked "And upon this act-I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favour of Almighty God.", A national monument project sponsored by the Western Sanitary Commission of St. Louis was initiated after formerly enslaved Charlotte Scott of Marietta, OH pledged $5 for a monument to Abraham Lincoln following his assassination in 1865. Donations from formerly enslaved persons grew to $20,000 within months of Scott's original donation. After years of competing projects, designs, and sponsoring agencies, on April 14, 1876, Ball's sculpture adapted from the model depicted, the "Emancipation Memorial," and designed without the input of the formerly enslaved donors was erected in Lincoln Square, Washington, D.C. on an eastern edge of Capitol Hill., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Manuscript note on verso of verso of P.2023.32.1: Florence March 15th 1872. Emancipation Proclamation. T. Ball of Boston., Manuscript note on verso of verso of P.2023.32.1: Florence March 15th 1872. Emancipation Proclamation. T. Ball of Boston. Sculptor in Florence., Date from manuscript note on verso., Thomas Ball (1819-1911), sculptor, focused his career on the portrayal of statesmen and historical figures. He located to Florence to study sculpture in 1854. Between 1857 and 1865, he worked in Boston before returning to Florence until 1897. Ball was part of an expatriate community of artists and sculptors, including Hiram Powers, father of Longsworth Powers., See Kirk Savage, Standing soldiers, kneeling slaves: Race, war, and monument in nineteenth-century America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), p.77-83 and 114-123., RVCDC, Longsworth Powers (1835-1904), son of sculptor Hiram Powers, lived in Florence with his family in the 1830s and returned in 1860 and began a career as a sculptor and photographer. Powers photographed prominent men and women in the city.
Creator: Powers, Longsworth, 1835-1904, photographer
Date: [1872]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Powers [P.2023.32.1-2]

Title: Ladies
Description: Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith. Depicts a scene set in Roman antiquity of a white woman, attired in a white gown, dancing before upper-class Romans. In the center is a marble veranda with a roof comprised of a red drape with yellow fringe held up by columns. In the veranda, around a table filled with food and drink, a Roman woman and three men lounge and watch the dancer. Behind them, three enslaved Black men and a woman carry wine flasks, pour drinks, and fan. In the left, white men and women musicians play flutes and tambourines. In the background, a peacock and other birds stand and fly on the palatial building decorated with columns, sculpture, and flowers., Title from partially legible label on mount., Number 19 in "Old Roman World" series., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., 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. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides - Smith [P.9471]

Title: [Unidentified young African American man]
Description: Full-length portrait of a well-dressed young African American man. The man, attired in a white collared shirt, a bowtie with a pin, a jacket with a boutonniere, striped suit pants, and shoes, stands his left hand resting on a plaster block in front of a backdrop painted with a tree and grass., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint with insignia stamped on mount., Photographer's advertisement on verso., Mount contains gold border., Accessioned 1988., 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: Fowler Studio, photographer
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Fowler [P.9217]

Title: [Portrait of unidentified African American man attired in masonic regalia ]
Description: Full-length studio portrait of an African American man, likely a Prince Hall Freemason, wearing a masonic sash and apron. He stands and rests his right hand on the corner of a wooden chair. Sitter has a mustache and is attired in a white collared shirt, cravat-like bowtie, vest, and loose fitting jacket and pants. A gilt-colored ring adorns his hand that rests on the chair. The base of of a posing standing is also visible behind the mason's feet. Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest African American masonic organization in the United States. A branch of North American Freemasonry, it was founded by Prince Hall in 1784. Prince Hall Masons not only practiced the secret rituals and moral teachings of Freemasons worldwide, but also a commitment to racial uplift, mutual aid, and social justice., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., Pad: Red velvet with scrollwork design in center within ornamented rectangle border., Mat: Oval., Case: Leather. Center medallion within nonpareil-like border surrounded by curving scrolls. Same design on verso., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos - – unid photo – unid sitter – tintype [P.2025.5]

Title: If dat ar fish knowd dis wor Merrick's thread, he wouldnt ha bit Merrick Thread Co. Best six cord 8
Description: Racist trade card for the Merrick Thread Company at 248 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia and depicting Black men, attired only in loincloths, pulling a captured whale onto a beach. The five men, portrayed in racist caricature, stand on the beach and hold onto the thread coming from an oversized spool labeled, "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8," in the right. The whale with an open mouth of sharp teeth is pulled from the ocean onto the beach. In the background, two men run, and palm trees are visible in the right. Merrick Thread Co. was founded in 1865 by Timothy Merrick, Austin Merrick, and Origen Hall in Mansfield, Connecticut. After its founding, the company established mills in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1898, the company merged with thirteen other independent thread and yarn manufacturers to form the American Thread Company., Title from item., Date inferred from date of operation of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso promotes Merrick Thread Co.'s best six cord soft finish spool cotton for machine & hand sewing and offers patrons "two lithoed water-color engravings" and "Sunshine for Little Children" on receipt of twenty-five cents., 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 - Merrick [P.2002.30]

Title: F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St Opening days, November 1st and 2d, 1881
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting F. Pulaski & Co., a fancy goods store at 1026 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a white woman pulling on her red stockings as her pet cat rubs his head against her foot and the same woman attired in a brown coat, a pink hat, blue stockings and white shoes, leaving her home with her cat trailing her. Also includes two related scenes showing a white woman standing with her head lowered before her surprised white husband with black soot on her face and clothing. In the subsequent scene, the husband is fighting with a Black man. In the right, the white man's brown cap flies off his head and white flour is dispersed through the air. In the left, the Black man's brown, brimmed hat falls to the ground as he grabs his hands around the white man's head with his right leg lifted up. F. Pulaski & Co., initially a partnership between Frank Pulaski and M.L. Kline when these trade cards were created, later specialized in pictures and picture frames., Title from item., Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.714]: "En voyant sa femme changée de couleur, Pétrin qui a mauvais caractère, devine tout de suite que Charabia lui a fait une niche. Il a son plan.", Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.718]: "Comme ils se sont promis de faire suer: Charabia, de la farine à chon ami Pétrin, et Pétrin du charbon a Charabia, ils se tiennent parole.", 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: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Pulaski [1975.F.714; 1975.F.718; 1975.F.764 & 1975.F.871]

Title: [Portrait depicting an unidentified African American Oddfellow attired in his Grand United Order of Oddfellows (GUOOF) regalia]
Description: aThree-quarter length studio portrait of an African American man attired in his GUOOF regalia, standing, looking forward, and holding his left hand on the top of the back of a chair. He also wears a goatee. His regalia includes a collar containing emblems depicting stars, vinery, and "PNF" (Past Noble Father) and an apron containing imagery composed of female allegorical figures flanking a crest. The collar also includes fringe and tassles. Parts of the collar and apron are tinted gold in image. Man also wears a collarless shirt, jacket, and a ring (tinted gold on image) on his left hand. In 1819, a branch of Oddfellowship, a mutual aid society with the motto "Friendship, Love, and Truth", was introduced into the United States from Europe by Thomas Wildey. In 1843, it became a separate organization under the name Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The same year, Peter Ogden founded the Philomathean Lodge No. 646, Grand United Order of Oddfellows with Black members. By the mid 1860s, the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF), American Jurisdiction included over 60 active lodges and in 1872 dispensation was granted for a Lodge in Memphis, Tennessee. Oddfellows' vows included not only moral and social outreach, but also ones to remain sober, honest, industrious and benevolent, a good husband, a kind father, and a loyal and virtuous citizen. By 1900, the GUOOF in America was the second largest African-American fraternal organization with over 200,000 members and over 2,000 lodges and a headquarters in Philadelphia. Its membership consisted mainly of lawyers, doctors, military officers, ministers, and other professionals., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium, attire of the sitter, and the dispensation date of the first Grand United Order of OddfFellows lodge in Memphis, Tennessee., Purchased partially with funds from the Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch African American History Fund and for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Joseph Columbus Pinner (1837-1895), born in Stewart County, Tennessee and trained as a doctor, entered the photography profession about 1865. In 1867, he located to Dyersburg, Tennessee where he continued as a professional photographer. By the late 1880s, he had served as a town alderman, mayor, and magistrate as well as was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Creator: Pinner, Joseph Columbus, II, 1837-1895, photographer
Date: 1872
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department tintypes - photographer - Pinner [P.2025.43]

Title: "Dar boss, how's dat?"
Description: Racist, satiric genre scene staged in a cargo hold setting. In the left, shows a well-dressed white man attired in a floor-length overcoat and bowler hat with valises at his side. He stands and watches an African American worker, attired in a cap and overalls, who secures the man's trunk with rope and his foot. Clothes hang out of and lie in front of the trunk. Stacks of trunks and valises line the wall in the background., Title from label on negative., Buff mount with rounded corners., Distributor's imprint stamped on verso: Robert Miller, 1110 W. Nor'W St., Gift of George R. Allen, 2013., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., The Standard Series of New York was a producer of pirated views during the 1890s.
Date: [ca. 1895]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Genre [P.2013.65.14]

Title: The travelled monkey - wiser & sadder
Description: Cartoon depicting two unidentified white men, attired in suits, on the balcony of the "Cleveland Hotel" in front of a hostile crowd calling out "Traitor" and "You be Damned." The speaker clutches a handkerchief and the bannister of the balcony as he tries to placate the crowd by stating it is their "Congress that is trying to break up the Government." The man beside him in the left smugly comments that he hopes the mayor is in town. An African American man in the crowd, portrayed in racist caricature, taunts the speaker, "How about that $400 Gold watch.", 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1884?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1884 Tra [5760.F.110]

Title: [Photographs of Andalusia, probably Pennsylvania]
Description: Captioned photographs depicting a pair of men by a tree and two women, one older, and a boy near a kettle in a back yard. Captions, one with racist text, include: "Pleasant thoughts of the Penn- Andalusia August 1898. Love from [Laute]?" and "Rollin like a [seener?] in the darkey quarters - Andalusia August 1898, Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from the attire of the sitters., Gift of Marjorie G. Battles., RVCDC
Date: [1898]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - 5 x 7 - unidentified - Recreation [P.8502.19 & 21]

Title: [Full-length studio portrait of an unidentified African American clergyman]
Description: Full-length portrait of an African American clergyman, standing, looking slightly right. He wears slicked back hair and a mustache. He is attired in a clergyman's robe and laced shoes. He holds a small book, possibly a Bible, up to his side with his right hand. He stands next to an armless chair with padded seat and draped in a patterned afghan. Potrait also includes a backdrop depicting a palatial window setting., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from dates of operation of photographer at addressed listed in imprint., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., William C. Withers operated from 814 Chestnut Street 1896-1900.
Creator: Withers, William C., photographer
Date: [ca. 1898]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Withers [P.2024.68]

Title: I'se a dude!
Description: Trade card promoting New Jersey grocer H. G. Prall & Sons and depicting an African American man dandy, with a sheepish expression, and posed with his left hand to his lips and his other hand holding a white top hat at his shoulder. He is portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a ruffled white shirt, a white waistcoat adorned with a watch fob, a gold jacket with tails, and blue and white striped pants. He stands in front of a background of fauna details. H. G. Prall primarily appears as the sole proprietor of his grocery in later 19th-century directories, but is listed as H. G. Prall & Son in 1883., Title from item., Date inferred from city directory listing for business., Series no. printed on recto: 58., Advertising text printed on verso: H. G. Prall & Sons, Dealers in fine Groceries. Headquarters for Fish, Provisions, Flour, Feed, &c., 174 and 176 Main Street, Somerville, N. J., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., 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. 1883]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Prall [113419.D]

Title: "The Freedman's Bureau."
Description: Visual pun on the Freedman's Bureau, a benevolent government organization, which aided formerly enslaved African Americans in the South by providing food, housing, and jobs, as well as establishing schools, hospitals, and a court system. Depicts a simply furnished attic room where an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, ties his tie as he stands beside his bed and before his dresser/bureau. Atop the bureau, which has its top drawer open, is a stand with a broken mirror upon which you see the man's reflection. A portrait of Lincoln and a bow and fiddle hang on the wall. His overcoat and hat rest on a chair with a broken back behind him., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year A.D. 1868 by Currier & Ives in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York., Purchase 1968., 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., Worth was a comic and genre artist whose popular work was published by the lithographic firm Currier & Ives.
Creator: Worth, Thomas, 1834-1917, artist
Date: 1868
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1868-2W [7687.F]

Title: No. 5 The duel
Description: Fifth scene in a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Scene shows two African American men (i.e., the suitors of the twins), attired in suits, at the start of a duel in a pasture between two trees. The suitor with a squat figure is in the right and the tall suitor in the left. They point guns at each other and look aghast. An African American man (witness), attired in a ruffled suit and hat, stands behind the tree in the foreground and another, in shirtsleeves, kneels behind the tree in the background. “Dr. Black M.D.,” an older African American man, sits behind the standing observer with his medical bag, labeled “Dr. Black M.D.,” in one hand and a medicine bottle in the other. Figures representing the twins are visible in the distant left background near their log cabin., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement in other reproduced drawings in series: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of publisher from other reproduced drawings in series: Cartoon Printing Co., Name of artist stamped on verso: McGreer Chicago., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.5]

Title: No. 9 Coming events
Description: Ninth scene in a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Shows "Dr. Black MD" on his donkey racing with the twins' husbands on their donkeys down a dirt road along a river. A raft sails on the river past a log cabin and a dwelling with smoke-spewing chimneys is visible in the background., Title from item., Name of publisher inscribed in original drawing., Date from copyright statement inscribed in original drawing: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of artist from stamp on verso: McGreer Chicago., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.8]

Title: Clark's mile-end 60 spool cotton
Description: Racist trade card promoting Clark Thread Company and depicting a genre scene of an African American man and woman in conversation on a country road. The man and woman are portrayed with exaggerated features and speaking in the vernacular. Shows, in the left, the man standing on a dirt road and holding a piece of thread attached to a giant spool labeled "Clark's mile-end 60 spool thread." He is attired in black boots; yellow striped pants with patches on the knees and rolled to his calves; a white shirt; a red vest; and a green jacket. His straw hat is upturned on the ground beside him. In the right, an African American woman sits in a horse-drawn wagon holding the reins to a white horse. She tells the man, "Ef dat mile end thread don't hold, dere ain't anything - lucky I got a spool to mend yer old clos' with." She is attired in a yellow head kerchief and a red dress with yellow trim at the neck. The George A. Clark & Brother Company, manufactory of embroidery and sewing thread, was founded in 1863 in Newark, N.J. The firm was renamed Clark & Co. in 1879, and in the 1880s created a six-cord, soft finished thread called "Our New Thread" or "O.N.T." The business merged with J. & P. Coats in 1896, which lead to a series of mergers with fourteen other companies. Into the 21st century, the company continues to manufacture thread under the name Coats & Clark., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Text on recto: Ef dat mile end thread don't hold, dere ain't anything- lucky I got a spool to mend yer old clos' with., Advertising text printed on verso: Clark's Mile-End Spool Cotton is the best for hand and machine sewing. Clark's Mile-End Colors are made expressly to match the leading shades of dress goods, and are unsurpassed both in quality and color. Clark's Mile-End Spool Cotton is six-cord in all numbers to 100 inclusive., Stamp on the recto is illegible., See related copy: Goldman Trade Card Collection - Clark [P.2017.95.33]., Gift of George Allen, 2022., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade cards - C - Clark's [P.2022.42.7]

Title: Centennial commemoration at Philadelphia [ticket] Three millions of colonists on a strip by the sea. Now forty millions of freemen ruling from ocean to ocean
Description: Ticket to the "Grand Mass Demonstration in favor of the Centennial Commemoration of American Independence, February 22, 1873" at the Academy of Music containing scenes contrasting life in Philadelphia in 1776 with life in 1876. Scene of 1776 shows white men colonists, including one attired as a backwoodsman, in front of a log cabin and standing near a barefooted, enslaved African American man, attired in torn and worn clothing, sitting on a pile of sticks. Scene of 1876 shows a white man soldier talking to a white man artisan near an African American man laborer seated next to an anvil and machinery gears. Cityscape is visible in the background. Also includes an eagle holding an American flag crest adorned with a portrait of Washington. Contains text printed on the verso soliciting subscriptions to make the Centennial a success as well as to make Pennsylvania the representative to the world of the "power of the Republic.", Title from item., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Centennial and Columbian Exposition views. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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: [1873]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr -8 x 10 - Events [5758.F.26c]

Title: The celluloid corset clasps side & dress steels Warranted not to rust. Corsets after washing. With the old style clasps in. With the new celluloid clasps in
Description: Trade card advertising celluloid corset clasps and depicting racist caricatures of Chinese men laundry workers comparing celluloid and traditional corsets. In the center, the laundry worker, wearing a queue hairstyle with the braid sticking straight out to the right and attired in gold hoop earrings, a red tunic, white pants, and blue and white cloth, slip-on shoes, smiles as he holds up a clean, white corset with celluloid clasps. In the left, the laundry worker, wearing a mustache and queue hairstyle and attired in a blue tunic, yellow pants, and blue and white cloth, slip-on shoes, holds a soiled and dirty corset as he opens his mouth in dismay looking at the clean corset. In the right background, the Chinese man, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a yellow tunic, blue pants, and white cloth, slip-on shoes, washes laundry with his hands in a steaming washtub. Also visible are a basket of laundry; a corset hanging on a line; and a table with an iron on top of it., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains advertising text printed on verso: Celluloid corset clasps. Side and dress steels. Perspiration proof. Elastic. Durable. In introducing these improved corset clasps, &c., let us call your attention to some of the points of their superiority over all others heretofore in use. 1st.--The inferior is finely tempered clock spring steel. 2d.--The exterior is celluloid. 3d.--The combination of the two unites the strength of the steel with the rust-proof qualities of the celluloid. 4th--The trouble of ripping out and sewing in the steels every time corsets are laundried becomes unnecessary as these steels need not be taken out for that purpose. 5th--They are warranted not to rust and thus stain the corsets or other garments. 6th--They are the best steels in every particular ever offered. Sold by all dry and fancy goods dealers throughout the country., RVCDC, 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 - Celluloid [1975.F.182]

Title: Celluloid cuffs, collars & bosoms, water & perspiration proof
Description: Trade card advertising J.H. Richelderfer’s celluloid collars and cuffs and depicting a racist caricature of a Chinese man at the beach watching a white man demonstrate the waterproof qualities of his celluloid cuffs, collar, and bosom or bib. In the center, the white man, wearing a mustache and attired in a red robe, red-and-yellow striped shorts, and white celluloid cuffs, collar, and bosom, stands in the ocean with water dripping down his clothes, showing that they are waterproof. In the right, a Chinese man, wearing a queue hairstyle, a red tunic, blue pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes, carries two sacks of laundry and looks over at the man in the water. In the left, a white man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, a red vest, yellow striped pants, and red shoes, sits on the sand holding an umbrella and wipes perspiration from his face with a handkerchief. In the background, a white man swims in the water and a boat is visible., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Stamped on recto: J.H. Richelderfer, 1032 Chestnut St., Phila., Text printed on verso: Waterproof linen, patented. Ladies’ and gent’s cuffs, collars and bosoms, made from celluloid. Waterproof, elastic, durable. These goods are far superior to any Linen Goods yet placed before the public, and in recommending them, we would call attention to some of their remarkable features, which will commend their use to all who study economy, neatness and beauty. 1sr. The interior is fine linen. 2d. The exterior is celluloid. 3d. The unison of above, combines the strength of linen with the waterproof qualities of celluloid, 4th. The expense of washing is saved. If the goods are soiled, simply cleanse with soap and water. 5th. The goods never wilt or fray on edges and are perspiration proof. The best preparation to effectually cleanse them is celluline. For sale by all gent’s furnishing and fancy goods houses throughout the country., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Richelderfer [1975.F.745]

Title: Joseph L. Varnam, ladies' and gents' & children's boot & shoe maker, Bustleton, 23rd ward, Philad'a Fine custom work made to order. Repairing promptly attended to
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in caricature with an oversized head and exaggerated facial features, sitting on a chair and playing the cello. He is attired in bright, mismatched clothing, including a yellow hat, a red and white striped and collared shirt, a yellow bowtie, a blue jacket with tails, yellow and red striped pants, blue socks, and yellow and black shoes. Includes vignettes of a boot and a shoe printed on verso., Title from stamp on verso., Purchase 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. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Varnum [P.9984.1]

Title: B.M. Weld, drugs & medicines, also boots, shoes, slippers, etc. Bradford, Vermont
Description: Series of three illustrated trade cards promoting druggist B.M. Weld. Depicts a white child raising the American flag on a flag pole; a framed image of two men walking beside a house under the moonlight superimposed onto a spray of flowers; and an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a white collared shirt, a green bowtie, and a blue jacket, who leans over the folded signboard containing the title, and dangles a red suit for a monkey, which sits in the lower right corner holding a red cap in its hand., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business., 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., Gift of William H. Helfand, 2000., 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. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - W [P.9828.7053-7055]

Title: "D em brats done gone and stole dat melon."
Description: Racist, genre stereograph depicting an African American man coming upon three African American boys sitting next to each other and eating large slices of watermelon at the entrance to a stone root cellar. Shows an outdoor setting in which the man, holding a switch, peers around the stone, curved structure at the boys who sit with their legs crossed, or bent at the knees, or to the side, before the open entryway. Each holds a slice of watermelon toward their mouth. Half a watermelon with a knife in it and two other slices of the melon lie near the boys. View also show a grassy hillside in the background and a patch of greenry near the cellar. The man is attired in a soft-brimmed hat, shirtsleeves, a vest, and slacks. The children wear shirts and shorts., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of publisher and content., Name of photographer and publisher from copyright statement: Copyright Griffith & Griffith., Curved grey mount with rounded corners., Griffith & Griffith, established in Philadelphia in 1896, expanded in 1908 to included offices in St. Louis and Liverpool. The non-Philadelphia offices were relocated in 1910., RVCDC, Gift of George R. Allen, 2022.
Creator: Griffith & Griffith
Date: [ca. 1900]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Griffith & Griffith - Portraits & Genre [P.2022.42.18]

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: In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of American independence
Description: Elaborate Centennial Exhibition commemorative print depicting an arched monument containing a central full-length portrait of George Washington surrounded by vignettes; allegorical figures; and religious quotes by the first president. Washington is depicted mounted on his horse. Arch is adorned with the names of the 38 states and is flanked by columns containing views representing the industries of the North, East, South, and West. Views show a white man laborer of the North chopping a tree at a waterfront, white women loom workers of the East, an overseer on horseback watching an enslaved African American man picking cotton in the South, and a white man farmer reaping his harvest with a horse-drawn plow in the West. Columns also contain allegorical figures to represent the years 1776 and 1876. Justice and Independence (depicted as white women and holding the Declaration), and a prostrate British soldier represent the year 1776 and Peace and Liberty (depicted as white woman and holding a "Ballot"), and a seated enslaved African American man free from his shackles represent the year 1876. Monument also contains views of Independence Hall and Memorial Hall (Centennial Exhibition), the scene showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and allegorical figures and emblems symbolizing the classical and industrial arts. Other pictorial elements depict the all-seeing eye; American eagle, shield, and flag; vignettes showing Washington praying, and accepting the sword of surrender from Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution; and vignette views with dimensions of Centennial Exhibition buildings. Buildings include the Art Gallery, Main Building, Agricultural Hall, Machinery Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The centennial of the United States was celebrated through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia., Not in Wainwright., Improvement copyrighted 1877 The Presbyterian Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 370, Gift of David Doret, 2007., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: 1876, 1877
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Centennial [P.2007.28.7]

Title: [View of the Centennial Machinery Hall with people from all nations]
Description: Block-printed wallpaper depicting an exterior view of Machinery Hall designed by Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which celebrated the centennial of the United States through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Horse-drawn carriages bring visitors to and from the Hall. A large crowd of spectators walk on the grounds. In the foreground, people from various nationalities and ethnicities are represented including Native Americans attired in feather headdresses; two men, including a Black man, attired in fez hats; two Chinese men, one carrying a fan, attired in conical hats and robes; two Arab men in white headdresses and robes; and a Scottish man attired in a kilt. Other spectators include a man attired in a sailor’s uniform, men and women couples, and young boys., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Gift of David Doret., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1876]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***Doret and Mitchell Collection – Prints [P.2022.62.3.49]

Title: Historical monument of our country
Description: Allegorical print after the 1858 painting by German-born painter Johann Michael Enzing-Müller documenting the history of the United States from ca. 1000 to the 1850s. In the right foreground, Norsemen, some seated and some standing on ground marked "1000" are portrayed discovering North America, which they called Vinland. A few of the men hold bunches of grapes, a shield, or a spear. In the left foreground, Columbus stands on a shore, between a rowboat holding white men, one writing in a ledger and with his back to an enslaved Black man in shackles, and a group of Indigenous people wearing headdresses. Columbus holds a flag into the ground marked "1492" and a sword up into the air. Behind the scene Plymouth Rock with the date "1620" inscribed on it is visible. In the center of the image, white men in different era attire use tools, convene, or celebrate near a trunk, cargo, and a stone wall. Beside them, in the right, a Pilgrim family (man, woman, child) rests near a frontiersman completing a blanket tent near cattle. In the upper right, the image contains scenes representing the American Revolution, including soldiers at battle and wounded men being attended to. In the upper left, ships and trains depicted near cityscape strewn with people and from which an American flag flies represents American progress. In the upper center, the American eagle mauls the British lion and unicorn on a stone mound. At top center, on a pyramid-like structure adorned with the shields of the states of the Union, George Washington stands with his hand on the Constitution which rests on an ornate stand. To his left are the fourteen presidents who followed him standing in a line. Above them, are allegorical women figures of Liberty and Justice. An allegorical female figure holding the Declaration of Independence sits to Washington's right. Behind the Presidents and pyramid is the new U.S. Capitol building with a dome., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1893, by Myers, Bryn & Cranford., RVCDC
Creator: Enzing-Müller, Johann Michael, 1804-1808
Date: c1893
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***GC-Allegories [P.2023.42.1]

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: 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: 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: A bran new coon in town
Description: Racist, satiric postcard depicting an African American family (portrayed as racist stereotypes) welcoming a “new” member, a baby. Shows the grandfather standing and weighing the infant on a hand held scale, as the grandmother, attired in a head kerchief, a floral shirt, a skirt, and an apron, cradles the baby’s head. In the right, the father smiles as he stands leaning down with both hands clutching a small table. In the center, a young boy sits at the table eating as he looks up at the baby. In the left, the mother sits smiling beside a stove as she pours water from a kettle into a cup., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright, 1898, and published by Knaffl & Bro., Knoxville, Tenn., Originally published in an 1898 edition of Leslie's Weekly as part of "The Blackville Gallery" series under the title "Weighing the Christmas Baby.", RVCDC, Accessioned 1999., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitized with funding from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: 1898
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Genre [P.9725.1]

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: Use Merrick's thread. "Gully this cotton beats 'em all!"
Description: Racist trade card promoting Merrick thread and depicting a domestic scene of an older African American man sewing. Shows the man, in a cabin setting, seated atop a stool, his feet slightly turned in, and mending the seat of a pair of blue pants. The man holds the pants in his left hand and pulls a needle and thread through a patch on the pants in his right. The thread comes from a large spool beside the man which is marked with "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8" logo. Behind the man is a window with a sill, which is lined with potted plants. A candle holder rests on a shelf attached to the wall below the window. The man is attired in a red button-down shirt, blue suspenders, brown pants, and brown shoes. Merrick Thread Co. was founded in 1865 by Timothy Merrick, Austin Merrick, and Origen Hall in Mansfield, Connecticut. After its founding, the company established mills in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1898, the company merged with thirteen other independent thread and yarn manufacturers to form the American Thread Company., Title from item., Date inferred from content and genre of print., Advertising text printed on verso: Buy Merrick Thread Co's best six cord soft finish spool cotton for machine & hand sewing warranted 200 yds. also these threads are made from the finest quality of combed sea island cotton, and for strength, evenness, elasticity and smoothness surpass anything in the market. By the use of the "ready wound bobbins" the annoyance of winding the iron bobbin is done away with, and a more perfect stitch obtained. When in want of more thread, don't fail to ask for Merrick's., See related copy: Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.122], Gift of George Allen, 2022., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade cards - M - Merrick [P.2022.42.10]

Title: Cotton is king. Plantation scene, Georgia, U.S.A
Description: Scene showing an African American girl, women, and men picking cotton in a cotton field. In the foreground, a girl picks cotton near a large basket filled with the fiber. Behind her, a number of women and men, some hunched over and with large cloth bags hung over their shoulders, pick cotton from the rows of plants. One man holds a large basket of cotton with his hands over his head and the basket on his back. The women wear long-sleeve, checkered cotton dresses and kerchiefs. The mean wear long sleeve shirts and pants. Most wear wide-brimmed hats, except the man carrying the basket, who wears no hat. In the background, a white man, attired in a suit and on horseback, oversees the cotton pickers., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1895, by Strohmeyer & Wyman., Title from item., Curved grey mount with rounded corners., Title printed in six different languages, including French, German, and Spanish on verso., Several lines of text printed on verso about the cotton industry, the "world-problem of clothing," the cultivation of cotton, including "picking is usually done by negro laborers, as here, though experiments with harvesting machines are meeting with some success," and suggested further reading, including encyclopedia article subjects and Carrol D. Wright's "Industrial Development of the United States." Text begins: This beautiful field "white unto the harvest," is a sense to delight a painter, and at the same time, it is a condensed cyclopaedia of one of the greatest industries of the whole world., Gift of David Long., Title variant of P.2017.121.2., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022., In 1912 Keystone View Company purchased rights to some Underwood & Underwood negatives for use in educational sets, and in 1922 purchased the remaining stock of Underwood materials. Keystone remained in business until 1970.
Creator: Underwood & Underwood
Date: 1895
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Underwood & Underwood - Work [P.2018.16.6]

Title: Camp of 2d Penna. Infantry, "Anthony Wayne." Clifton Heights, Delaware Co. Pa. August 1889. (Major Porters tent) Lt. Col. O. C. Bosbyshell; Major Jno. Bieldles? [porter?]; George Brown (Colored.)
Description: Group portrait showing Lt. Col. Bosbyshell (right), Major John Bieldles? (left), and George Brown (center right) posed in front of the tent of Maj. J. Biddle Porter at the Pennsylvania National Guard Second Regiment encampment in Clifton Heights, August 4-10, 1889. The Lt. Col. and Major, attired in their uniforms of dark-colored jackets and white pants, sit on folding chairs, their legs crossed. Bieldles (left), with cropped dark hair and a mustache, holds a book in his right hand and points a finger on his left hand upwards. Brown, an African American man, possibly a porter, with cropped dark hair and attired in a white, long sleeve shirt, and dark-colored trousers, lies on his side, in front of Bosbyshell (right). Bosbyshell wears glasses and has grey hair and a goatee. He rests his right arm on the back of his chair. The flaps to the tent, marked "N.G.P.," are open. Shelving, pails, and a steamer trunk are visible inside. The men sit and lie under an awning pitched in front of the tent. A wooden water tower, shed, shelter, and crates, near a row of trees, are visible in the background. An African man stands next to the shed, and the head of a seated African American man is visible in the shelter. Bosbyshell was a coiner at the Philadelphia mint 1875-1885 and superintendent 1889-1894. The Pennsylvania National Guard encampment included drills, a dress parade, receptions, and inspections by Adjunct-General Daniel H. Hastings and Governor James A. Beaver. The camp adjoined the grounds of "Mr. Bishop.", Title from manuscript note on verso., Date from manuscript note on verso., Mount is black with gold edges., See Philadelphia Inquirer, August 5-6, 1889 and August 9, 1889., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points reviewed 2022.
Date: [August 1889]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department group portrait photographs - military - Second Pennsylvania Infantry [P.2018.36]

Title: New transfer picture-album offering a collection of fine transfer pictures and the direction how to fix them
Description: Pocket-size volume of decals of vignette maps of French cities, territories, colonies, and provinces during the antebellum period. Decals also include illustrations symbolic of the environment, culture, and economy of the depicted regions. Maps include (Afrique) Ile Bourbon, i.e., Réunion; Department de la Course, i.e., Corsica; Department de la Seine, i.e., Paris; Amerique Guadeloupe; Nle Caledonie/Iles de la Societe, i.e., New Caledonia/Society Islands; Algerie; (Amerique) La Martinique; (Afrique) Mayotte, Nossi-Be, St. Marie/Senegal; and Algerie (Afrique) Prov. De. D’Oran, i.e., Oran Province. Illustrations depict ethnic stereotypes and racist caricatures showing Africans, including an enslaved man from Ile Bourbon and Algerians; a Guadeloupean white plantation owner; a Corsican woman; sacks, crates, and barrels of foods and spices, including cacao, coffee, canella, cotton, sugar, indigo, and nutmeg; and native flora and fauna, including trees, grasses, a turtle, bird, elephant, and alligator. Vignettes also show a portrait of Napoleon; Paris architecture; ships and boats; and huts and a tent., Title from item., Date inferred from era of production of miniature decals and cover design., Front cover illustrated with a clown figure holding a trumpet to his mouth in one hand and tugging his hat with the other., Printed on back cover: Directions for fixing transfers. Take the picture, put it into luke-warm water for a quarter of a minute, pres the picture-side firmly on the object you wish to decorate, and draw gently the paper away. the fixed picture can be varnished, which makas [sic] it finer and secure against water and dust., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Misc. [P.2014.17.3]

Title: [Geo. S. Harris & Sons print specimens]
Description: Series of specimens, primarily for trade cards and labels, printed by the prominent Philadelphia lithographic firm. Subjects include fanciful, allegorical, and sentimental scenes and portraiture with women, children, and flowers; hunting and recreational scenes; international iconography; animals (dogs, horses, and an alligator clutching a Black baby in its jaws); political and military imagery, including President James Garfield; land and marinescapes; and mythological and fairy tale views. Collection also includes specimen without an imprint and probably printed by Harris showing a plantation scene with a white man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, white pants, and a sword on his waistband, placing his right hand on the shoulder of a barefooted Black man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and white pants that are torn at the bottom, who carries a hoe. They stand before a body of water surrounded by flowers and trees with the plantation in the background. Racist scene shows a white female angel with wings pouring packages of tobacco from a cornucopia to a group of men and women from various ethnic groups and nationalities, including Native Americans, Chinese, Spanish, and Middle Eastern people, many of which smoke cigars, hookahs, and pipes. Specimen depicting a man, attired in a turban with a dagger in his waistband, kneeling with a rifle beside him. Surrounding him are palms and desert plants. In the right background, a lions stands and looks on., Title supplied by cataloger., Publication date inferred from content of one print depicting President James Garfield., 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.
Date: [ca. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimen Album Loose Prints Collection - Geo. S. Harris [P.9349.279, 283-284, 292, 298-307, 309, 317-318, 321, 328-329, 332, 436-437, 439, 441-442, 447, 451-453 & 455-456]

Title: The Freedman's Bureau! An agency to keep the negro in idleness at the expense of the white man. Twice vetoed by the president, and made a law by congress. Support Congress & you support the negro. Sustain the president & you protect the white man
Description: Racist campaign poster in support of Democratic candidate Heister Clymer published during the Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1866 attacking his Republican opponent James White Geary and the Republican Congress's support of the Freedmen's Bureau. Depicts an oversize figure of an African American free man, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque features, lazing on his back under the quote in the vernacular, "Whar is de use for me to work as long as day make dese appropriations." The figure is surrounded by imagery, including scenes, quotes, and a table, condemning the legislature's financial support of African Americans. Scenes include a white man chopping wood as "the white man must work to keep his children and pay his taxes"; a white man farmer plowing his field for "in the sweat of thy face thou eat thy bread"; and a view of a building similar to the Capitol under the heading "Freedman's Bureau! Negro Estimate of Freedom!" The building is inscribed with divisive words and terms including: "Freedom and No Work"; "Goods to eat & drink. Uncle Sam will have to keep me"; "Idleness"; "White Women"; "Apathy" and a list of foods stereotyped as part of the African American diet. Also includes a table listing appropriations issued by Congress in support of the Freedman's Bureau; a quote indicating the inequity of Civil War veteran's bounties in favor of African Americans; and a statement disapproving of the cost of the Freedman's Bureau to the "Tax-payers of the Nation.", Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Readex July 2013 update: This political cartoon is now housed in the Print Room; formerly Lib. Company. Afro-Americana, 3815., 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: [1866]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *political cartoons - 1866-6 [(6)5777.F.79]

Title: [Glorification of the American Union]
Description: Allegorical print glorifying life and liberty in post-Civil War America depicting the figure Columbia, depicted as a white woman, atop a tall pyramid-shaped pedestal. Flanked by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the latter holding the "Proclamation of Emancipation," she raises her hand toward emancipated enslaved men and women to her right who acknowledge her with raised shackled hands, a knelt position, and a tipped hat. Newly arrived European immigrants are gathered to her left. Abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher stands among the enslaved men, women, and children who have been emancipated, and revolutionary and diplomat Carl Schurz stands before the immigrants. The freed persons embrace each other, break free from shackles, and brandish instruments of free labor as behind them the Capitol, a large American flag, and apparitions of colonial soldiers stand vigil. The immigrants, depicted in their native attire, look to Schurz as they carry their belongings ashore. More ships continue to arrive in the background., Title from copy print at the Calvert Gallery, Washington, D.C., Printer's proof., Manuscript note on recto: Aun myn goeden arrend J. Bollens; J. B. Michiels., After a painting by Belgian historical painter Ferdinand Willem Pauwels, exhibited in 1867 at the Kunstschule in Weimar and possibly at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia under the title, "The New Republic.", See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989) Part 2, Vol. IV, p.248-249., Purchase 1999., 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.
Creator: Michiels, Jean-Baptiste P., 1821-1890, engraver
Date: [ca. 1873]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-Emancipation [P.9672]

Title: No. 2 The introduction
Description: Second scene based on a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Scene shows the “twins,” side-by-side, curtseying to their two male suitors (one tall and one squat) who stand across the parlor. The tall one bows with his hat in hand. The suitors’ mother, portrayed with a face with many wrinkles and attired in a polka dot dress, stands between the pairs. The room is adorned with a table that holds a vase of flowers, an album, and a glass. Framed pictures, including a portrait, as well as a cuckoo clock adorn the walls near a window with a partially rolled-up window shade. The twins are attired in polka dot dresses and the men in suits., Title from item., Inscribed on original drawing: Remodeled from sketch in Harpers Weekly., Date from copyright statement in other photographs in series: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of artist stamped on verso: McGreer Chicago., Name of publisher from other photographs in series., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.2]

Title: No. 3 The courting
Description: Third scene in a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Scene shows the twins and their suitors, seated in an open room with a stove by a mantle. In the left, one twin sits face to face with her tall suitor. She looks down and raises her hand to her mouth. In the right, the other twin sits next to her suitor and smiles. The twin holds a fan to her face. A hat and coat hang on the wall above them. The twins' parents watch from a doorway in the left background. The twins are attired in polka dot dresses and the men in suits., Title from item., Inscribed on original drawing: Reproduced from sketch by Sol Eytinge from Harpers Weekly., Date from copyright statement in other photographs in series: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of artist stamped on verso: McGreer Chicago., Name of publisher inscribed on original drawing., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.3]

Title: No. 4 The proposal
Description: Fourth scene in a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Scene shows the twins and their suitors, seated in an open room with a stove by a mantle. The tall suitor of the twin in the left kneels on the floor, his chair fallen behind him, and proposes to her as he holds her right hand. She covers her mouth with the other. The twin of the couple in the right sits on her suitor’s lap as he holds her. Her foot rests on his hat on the floor, and she holds a fan down on her legs. The parents of the twins, an older couple, stand, their mouths ajar, in an open entryway in the left background. Keepsakes and knick knacks adorn the mantle behind the stove. A coat and hat hang above the couple in the right. The twins are attired in polka dot dresses and the men in suits., Title from item., Date from copyright statement inscribed on original drawing: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of artist stamped on verso: McGreer Chicago., Name of publisher from other photographs in series., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.4]

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