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- Title
- Globe billiard parlors, and palace luxury, 321 Federal St., Camden, N.J. Albert Crump
- Description
- Trade card depicting decorative design made of palm leaves and geometric shapes., 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 - Globe [1975.F.175]
- Title
- Swiss store. Fans, baskets, sea beans, sea shells, fine porcelains, swiss carvings. E. Misson, 26 Washington St., Cape May, N.J
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting two ships on the ocean and crashing waves in the foreground., 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 - Misson [1975.F.633]
- Title
- Souvenir. Stockton Hotel. Chas. Duffy, manager. Sunday eve'ng concert, by Simon Hassler's orchestra, August First, 1880
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting a bird perched on the branch of a flowering tree. The seaside hotel opened in 1869 on the entire block between Howard and Gurney streets and Columbia Avenue and the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel, destroyed in the great fire of 1878, was rebuilt, and destroyed again by fire in 1889., Copyrighted 1878 by Wemple & Kronheim N.Y., Programme for the Sunday evening concert on August 1, 1880 by Simon Hassler's celebrated orchestra at the Stockton Hotel printed on verso., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- c1878
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Stockton [1975.F.790]
- Title
- [Clark's O.N.T. spool cotton trade cards]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards for Clark Thread Company's O.N.T. spool cotton. Illustrations depict children in various settings, including flying a kite with a thread from Clark's O.N.T. spool and a little girl fishing. Also shows a family walking with their dog on the sidewalk in front of a large advertisement for Clark's; a mother sewing buttons onto her daughter's coat; and a mother using a Clark's spool thread to keep her walking toddler from falling., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Wemple & Kronheim (N.Y.) and Chas. Shields Sons' (N.Y.)., Two prints [1975.F.213 and 1975.F.879] contain advertising text printed on rectos and versos for Joseph H. Traeger's foreign and domestic dry goods store in Bethlehem, Pa., Two prints [1975.F.186 and 1975.F.190] contain six-month calendars on versos., One print [P.9988.2], die cut and shaped into a cylinder, contains advertising text for Clark's O.N.T. spool cotton on verso along with a distributor's stamp: Holm & McKay, 50, Worcester, Mass., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- [ca. 1883]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Clark's O.N.T. [1975.F.147; 1975.F.186; 1975.F.190; 1975.F.213; 1975.F.879; P.9988.2]
- Title
- Stephen F. Whitman's choice confections, always fresh, at Mrs. M.A. Friend's, 45 Washington Street, Cape May City
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting a spray of flowers., 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 - Whitman's [1975.F.971]
- Title
- M.E. Hoopes
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting a peacock perched on a thin tree branch. Daniel S. White, Jr. purchased The Traymore from M.E. Hoopes in 1886., Advertising text for the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey printed on verso: The Traymore, having been re-painted and being furnished in the best modern style throughout, with thorough light and ventilation (requisite in summer houses), with use of elevator for invalids, and owing to arrangements, that have been perfected, have secured the services of the most efficient and experienced assistants in the various departments, and being determined to use all my energy and ability, anticipate exceeding its past excellence, which the liberal patronage it has received attests. Very respectfully, M.E. Hoopes., 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 - Hoopes [1975.F.410]
- Title
- Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner--"I'll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I'll lick de hul firm." Compliments of J. Harley Compton, druggist, New Egypt, N.J
- Description
- Racist trade card promoting the druggist J. Harley Compton and depicting a caricature of an older African American man reading a notice on a country grocery store. Shows the man with a white beard and attired in a yellow brimmed hat, a long-sleeved red shirt, yellow pants with patches and held up by suspenders, and black shoes. He bends forward to read the sign on the boarded up, dilapidated store. It states in the vernacular that the Johnsing & Skinner Grocery is out of business and that, “Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me--dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing." The African American man is labeled as a creditor who says in the vernacular, “I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.” Another sign on the building states, "10 miles to de post ofice (sic)." In the right, the man’s donkey is tied to an orange post behind him. In the background, fenced in fields and trees are visible. William Carroll purchased J. Harley Compton’s drugstore in New Egypt, New Jersey in 1895., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Johnsing & Skinner Grocery. Notis—De firm of Johnsing & Skinner am resolved. Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me—dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing. Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner—“I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.”, Advertising text printed on verso promotes items manufactured by J. Harley Compton, including Compton's concentrated flavoring extracts, liquid rennet, camphor ice with glycerine, cholera and dysentery drops, and Compton's tooth powder. Dated Oct. 9th, 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., Gift of William Helfand., 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 Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - C [P.9828.5679]
- Title
- [Clark's mile end spool cotton trade cards]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards for John Clark Jr. & Co.'s mile end spool cotton products numbered 24, 30, and 60. Illustrations depict circus performers or acrobats; an artist tethered and hanging from a large spool of cotton as he paints "Clarks mile end" on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean; a boy attired in robes navigating a chariot pulled by two white horses; a backyard view of a dog stealing the bone of a much larger dog that is restrained by a thread from a large spool of cotton; and flowers., Title supplied by cataloger., Three prints [1975.F.137, 1975.F.139, 1975.F.143] contain advertising text printed on versos., Three prints printed by Forbes Co. (Boston) and two prints printed by Donaldson Brothers (New York)., Four prints [1975.F.140, 1975.F.144, 1975.F.166, 1975.F.170] contain six-month calendars on versos, with the imprint for Thomas Russell & Co., sole agents, New York., 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 - Clark's mile end [1975.F.137; 1975.F.139-140; 1975.F.143-144; 1975.F.166; 1975.F.170]
- Title
- Found at last! The cheapest shell store in Atlantic City. Rare and beautiful sea shells, corals, toys, curiosities, etc. East India Shell Store, No. 1120 Atlantic Avenue, above post office
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting the mythological figure Poseidon with a trident and horse-drawn chariot heading toward the sea. Includes seashells and seaweed on the beach in the foreground and a ship on the water in the distant background., 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 - East [1975.F.292]
- Title
- The Camden & Atlantic Railroad. The short and popular route to Atlantic City Pocket time card-season of 1882. Depots in Philadelphia foot of Vine-Street and Shackamaxon Street
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting a vignette of a well-dressed family on the beach, including the father wearing a top hat and cane and the mother holding a yellow parasol. Two girls play near the waves while their parents look on. Vignette inset into a larger scene depicing a sailboat in the ocean, a lighthouse, and seashells lining the shore in the foreground. The Camden & Atlantic Railroad began regular service between Camden and Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1855. The railroad was taken over by the West Jersey & Seashore Railroad in 1883., Contains a condensed timetable ("summer arrangement") for trains traveling between Atlantic City and Philadelphia printed on verso. Includes times for the South Atlantic City Branch and the locations of ticket offices in Philadelphia, Germantown, and Camden, New Jersey., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- 1882
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Camden [1975.F.25]
- Title
- Dixon's carburet of iron stove polish
- Description
- Series of trade cards promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a racist caricature of an African American woman nanny at work. Shows the nanny smiling, holding, and scrubbing an unclothed white girl, who is coated in black stove polish along her right side. The long, brown haired girl wears a red headband and is partially covered by a white cloth draped around by the nanny. The nanny uses a scrub brush under the right arm of the girl. The girl stands, her right leg raised, upon a table covered with a yellow tablecloth and stained by the polish. She looks down and touches the nanny's face with her right hand. She places her left hand over the woman's hand on her left side. The nanny is attired in a white head kerchief with red polka dots; a yellow short-sleeved shirt with red stripes; and a blue skirt. On the table is a plate; a brush; and boxes labeled Dixon's Stove Polish. Image also includes, in the left background, a stove with a steaming copper kettle and a partial view of a stove pipe and checkered flooring. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, established by Joseph Dixon in Salem, Mass. in 1827, produced graphite pencils, crucibles and stove polish, and relocated to Jersey City, N.J. in 1847. In 1868, the firm name changed from Joseph Dixon & Co. to the Jos. Dixon Crucible Co. In 1870 the firm won a trademark case against a Philadelphia competitor selling J.C. Dixon Stove Polish., Title from item, Printers and engravers include Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co. (New York) and A. Gast & Co. (New York and St. Louis)., Advertising text printed on verso: Advertising text printed on verso: Established 1827. Dixon's stove polish; over fifty years in the market. Neat; quick; brilliant, and lasting. No dust. No odor. Nothing will make a stove so bright and cheerful for so long a time as the Dixon stove polish. It is by far the cheapest in use, in the long run. Buy it. Try it. Take no other. Pressed into a neat quarter-pound packet, absolutely free of adulteration. Six millions sold in 1880. Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883. Purchase 1998., 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 - Dixon [1975.F.235; P.9577.14; P.9599]
- Title
- Philadelphia -- The new Delaware River Bridge -- Camden. We insure anything. Try us. This is a darn good blotter. T. Yorke Smith, 507 Federal St., Camden N.J. Real estate insurance. Both phones 316
- Description
- Advertising blotter depicting the Delaware River Bridge (i.e., Benjamin Franklin Bridge) spanning the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. Commissioned by the Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission of New Jersey and the Delaware River Bridge and Tunnel Commission of Pennsylvania, the bridge was built 1922-1926 and designed by architect Paul Cret and engineer Ralph Modjeski., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- [ca. 1926]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Smith [P.9577.19]
- Title
- Colonnade Hotel, Philadelphia. Congress Hall, Cape May
- Description
- Die cut trade card shaped and illustrated as the front of one daisy and the back of another. Advertises the luxury hotels The Colonnade Hotel and Congress Hall. The Colonnade Hotel was a luxury hotel completed in 1868 at 1500-1506 Fifteenth Street (southwest corner of Fifteenth and Chestnut streets). The hotel was named after the "Colonnade Row" of early nineteenth-century pillared, porched townhouses previously on the site. The hotel was demolished in 1925 for the erection of the Franklin Trust Company Building. Congress Hall, one of the oldest seaside hotels, was built in 1816 by Thomas Hughes, at Beach Drive and Congress Street. The hotel, originally called the "Big House," was renamed Congress Hall in 1828 when Hughes was elected to Congress. The grand lodging, able to accommodate 1000 guests, was destroyed by the great fire of 1878 and rebuilt in brick the following year., Advertising text printed on verso for the Colonnade Hotel and Congress Hall operated by H.J. and G.R. Crump of Philadelphia., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- 1882
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Colonnade Hotel [1975.F.125]
- Title
- L. S. Plaut & Co., 715, 717, 719 Broad St., Newark, N. J
- Description
- Trade card for L. S. Plaut & Co.'s boys' clothing department depicting African American children, portrayed in racist caricature, sledding. Shows ten African American children, attired in short-sleeved pajamas, in a toboggan sledding down a snow-covered slope. One child plays a horn. The child at the back holds on with their leg outside the toboggan. White spectators watch from the side of the incline, and other toboggans are seen in the distance at the top of the slope. L. S. Plaut & Co., established as "The Bee Hive" in 1870 by Leopold Fox and L. Simon Plaut, was a premier department store in Newark, N.J. The firm tenanted 715-719 Broad Street by the 1880s., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1887 by The Bufford's Sons Lith. Co., Printed lower right corner: 794., Stamped on recto: Harvey Cooley., Advertising text on verso: The Largest in the State. The Bee Hive Boy's Clothing Department. See our values in Short Pant Suits, at $2.48, $3.48 and $4.98. See our values in Short Pants, at 49c., 62c., and 98c. See our values in Overcoats, at $2.23, $3.48, and $4.98. Men's Shoes, Fine-Make Goods, all at Very Low Prices. Text accompanied by illustration showing a white boy attired in a cap, overcoat, pants, and boots., Duplicate image of: trade cards - R [P.2011.42.1], 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
- 1887
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Plaut [113418.D]
- Title
- Traymore House, Atlantic City, N.J
- Description
- Illustrated trade card promoting the Traymore hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey and depicting two Japanese women walking in opposite directions. Shows the women, attired in kimonos and holding parasols, walking on the grass. In the right is a partial view of a fence and part of a roof with geometric designs along the side. A tree grows in the background. The Traymore began as a boarding house in Atlantic City in 1879 and expanded to become a large resort hotel. It was demolished in 1972., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of the advertising business., Advertising text printed on verso: “The Traymore,” Sea end of Illinois Avenue, Atlantic City, N.J., Will re-open for the reception of guests June 1st. The House, situated at the sea end of Illinois Avenue, containing upwards of seventy apartments and being one of the nearest to the beach (which is within 100 yards), with nothing to obstruct the view, gives it the advantage of having more pleasant Ocean rooms than any other house of its capacity in Atlantic City., 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 - Traymore [1975.F.872]
- Title
- [Hunter's handsome drug stores, cor. Pacific & New Jersey Aves., cor. Atlantic & Indiana Aves., Atlantic City, N.J. and cor. Fifteenth and Wharton Sts., Philadelphia]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards promoting Hunter's Drug Stores, and depicting white boys bowling, a large fish in a pond surrounded by flowers, and men and women laboring outside, including a white man and woman couple fetching water from a well, a white woman standing in a field carrying a staff, and a white woman watering flowers with smiling, human faces in a garden as a cupid figure with wings watches her from the other side of a fence. Two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature, haul large bundles of wheat past a milestone labeled "M. 10." In the left, the barefooted man is attired in a tunic, and in the right, the man is attired in a hat, a tunic, and shoes., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9828.6173] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting the purity, quality and accuracy of Hunter's drugs and lists items available for sale at his drugstores., Date from copyright statement on six prints [P.9828.6175-6180]: Copyright 1882 by Ed. Wolf., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [ca. 1882]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - H [P.9828.6173-6180]
- Title
- [J. & P. Coat's thread trade cards]
- Description
- Series of trade cards promoting J.&. P. Coats thread and depicting men, women and children performing a variety of activities with the thread, including a white girl swinging on a tree swing; a white man fishing in a stream while a white woman watches; and several white children pretending to be a horse team. Includes a large frog on a riverbank. "So do my sisters and my cousins and my aunts!" depicts an older white woman carrying packages. "Gulliver and the Lilliputians" based on Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" shows an oversized Gulliver being tied down with thread by the Lilliputians. "That's the kind! Bring me some more" depicts an older white woman inspecting different colored spools of thread in a box held up by a white boy. "Ef dis don't fetch you nothing will" depicts an African American man and woman, portrayed in racist caricature, trying to tame a donkey. In the left, the woman, attired in a white bonnet with a red ribbon, a red shirt, a blue scarf, a yellow shirt, a white apron, and gray shoes, uses thread from an enormous J. & P. Coats spool to pull on the bridle on the donkey, who pulls back with its mouth open. Behind the donkey, the man stands, attired in a brown, brimmed hat, a red shirt, blue plaid pants, and blue shoes, who holds a rope in his left hand and scratches his head with his left hand. "We never fade!" depicts an African American boy, portrayed in racist caricature, sitting on an oversized spool of thread in a field. Shows the boy seated and with his legs straddling a giant spool of black thread. He says “we never fade!!” and points his finger at the sun, which has a face and a concerned expression with a downward turned mouth. The boy is barefoot and attired in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows; a multi-colored tie and belt; and red pants rolled up to the knees. In the foreground, two black crows look at the thread. A house is visible in the right background., Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title supplied by cataloger., Five prints printed by E. Ketterlinus & Co., Ten prints contain advertising text printed on versos, including promotions for J. & P. Coat's best six cord, soft finish spool cotton; a table of needle and thread numbers; a calendar for 1880; and a description of "Gulliver and the Lilliputians" illustration (on recto of print 1975.F.220)., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883. Purchase 1999. 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. 1885]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Coats [1975.F.123; 1975.F.126; 1975.F.133; 1975.F.150; 1975.F.157; 1975.F.193; 1975.F.195; 1975.F.220; 69211.D; P.9743; P.9984.4]
- 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
- Brother Gardner addresses the Lime Kiln Club on the virtues of Dixon's Stove Polish
- Description
- Racist, satiric trade card promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a caricature of an African American man presenting Dixon’s Stove Polish to the African American men members of the Lime Kiln Club. Shows Brother Gardner, the white-haired, African American man, in the left with spectacles on his forehead and attired in a white collared shirt with a red bowtie, an orange jacket with a sunflower on the lapel, red and white checked pants, and black shoes. He stands holding a blue box of Dixon’s in his left hand and a gavel in his right hand. In the left is a wooden table with a blue pitcher and a top hat on top of it and a sign that reads, “Dixon’s Carburet of Iron Stove Polish.” Brother Gardner addresses the men in the vernacular, who are identified by number with the key of their names on the verso of the card. In the right, the man, attired in a striped white collared shirt, a red tie, a white and blue striped jacket, yellow and red striped pants, and black shoes, sits on a wooden chair and examines a blue box of Dixon’s in his hands. Beside him another man, balding with tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and a white beard and attired in a red jacket and blue striped pants, kneels down and carries a brush in his right hand. Behind them two men sit on chairs and an additional nine men stand and listen to Brother Gardner. In the background, the wall reads, “Lime Kiln Club, Paradise Hall.” A horseshoe and framed prints that read “Beautify your homes” and “Rules of the Lime Kiln Club” hang on the wall. In the center is a large, black stove., The African American "Lime Kiln Club" caricatures originally were devised by Charles Bertrand Lewis (i.e., M. Quad) in the Detroit Free Press. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, established by Joseph Dixon in Salem, Mass. in 1827, produced graphite pencils, crucibles and stove polish, and relocated to Jersey City, N.J. in 1847. In 1868, the firm name changed from Joseph Dixon & Co. to the Jos. Dixon Crucible Co. In 1870 the firm won a trademark case against a Philadelphia competitor selling J.C. Dixon Stove Polish., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1886., Advertising text printed on verso: The Lime Kiln Club, Brother Gardner in the Chair. “Dis Club hab ebery reason to be proud of de Stove Committee. We has tried all de other stove polishes. We has been stunk out wid so-called peperahuns and seen de piping rust to pieces, till de stove-pipe wus a tumbled down disgrace to de good name of de Lime Kiln Club. De honah of dis occashun belongs to Brudder Shindig, who has made a name for hisself, by introducing Dixon’s Big cake of Stove Polish, and has covered hisself wid shine. Stand up, Brudder Shindig, and let us gaze upon your countenance. Now, my frens, let us draw a lesson from dis: Seek and find out for yerselves, and when you’s got a good ting stick to it, so dat, like DIXON’S STOVE POLISH, you may not only be a use to de community in which yer libes, but a shining example for de rest of mankind. “De club owes a vote of thanks to de Stove Committee, an’ to Brudder Shindig in particular, an’ extend de heartfelt thanks of de Lime Kiln Club to DIXONS for de valuable addition to de comfits of dis life through their CARBURET OF IRON STOVE POLISH. Wid one drawback, Brudder Shindig—you orer haf found dis outen befo’ for de DIXON’S STOVE POLISH has bin in de market SINCE 1827,--58 YEARS.” (Signed) No. 1. Bro. Gardner, 2. Old Man Jenkins, 3. Bro. Shindig, 4. Give-A-Dam Jones, 6. Sundown Davis, No. 7. Accordingly Davis, 8. Stepoff Johnson, 9. Trustee Pullback, 10. Sickles Smith, 11. Sir Isaac Walpole, 12. Layback Jones, Committee., Advertising text printed on verso: Fifty-eight years in market! The oldest, the best, the neatest, the quickest. Ask your dealer for Dixon's Stove Polish. Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J. Illustration showing a box of "Dixon's Prepared Carburet of Iron (Trademark) For Polishing Stoves, Grates, Ranges, and Every Kind of Cast and Sheet Iron work.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., 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
- 1886
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *trade card - J [P.2012.54.2]
- 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]

