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

Title: James Boyd's fine shoes. Presented by Irving J. Brown
Description: Trade card promoting James Boyd's shoes and depicting a racist caricature of an African American man, possibly a peddler, making a presentation on a stage. The man, portrayed with exaggerated features and manners, stands onstage behind a table leaning forward with his knuckles pressed onto the surface. He is attired in a brown suit jacket with tails; waistcoat; white shirt with a white bow tie; gold cuff links; blue pants; and black boots. In his back pocket are rolled up papers. There is a glass on the table. Beneath it is a top hat. In the foreground, four African American men in the audience listen, interact with each other, and gesture. They are attired in jackets (brown, yellow plaid, or green) and white collared shirts. The far left spectator also wears spectacles. The far right spectator raises his hand as if to ask a question. In the background, some brick is exposed through the painted wall, and a white sign is hung advertising "James Boyd's Fine Shoes." James Boyd started manufacturing shoes as Barrow & Boyd in New York in 1866. Barrow retired in 1877. James Boyd continued the business, and in 1884, he added his sons George and William to the firm becoming James Boyd & Sons. Irving J. Brown began selling shoes in 1877. He had stores at 461 and 944 Congress Street, Portland, Maine until at least 1891., Title from item., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: [I]r[vin]g J. Brown. ([?] of the gold boot.) Dealer [i]n boots and shoes, is the special agent for the sale of my goods in Portland. James Boyd, New York City. Highest medals awarded 1873, 1874, 1876, 1877. (Extract from the judges report.) Forty-second exhibition American Institute. "Case no. 49, made by James Boyd, are perfectly put together. We have seen all the shoes made in New York for the past twenty years, and this is the Best [?] in our judgment. The uppers are beautifully [?], and deserve great credit and reward." Elisha Hanshew, E.W. Eaton, C.J. Murray } Judges. [New Yo]rk, Nov. 1873., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Boyd [P.2017.95.16]

Title: Look back gentlemen, into the future
Description: Racist trade card promoting Frederick A. Rex & Company's Peerless Coffee and depicting a caricature of an African American man peddler standing on a stage. The man, attired in a blue plaid suit with gold buttons, a white shirt with an enormous collar around the neck, and black shoes, is portrayed with an oversized head and exaggerated features. He stands behind a small table on a stage, places his left hand on the table, raises his right hand in the air, and winks his left eye. In the right on the stage is top hat turned upside down with an orange cloth coming of out it. In the left leaning against the table is a green umbrella with a black handle. 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 from item., Place of publication from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: The Peerless Coffee, finest coffee sold. Always ask your Grocer for this Popular Brand, and you will be sure to have the best. Roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co. 39 North Front St. Philadelphia. Mills, Camden, N.J. Illustration of a square package labeled, "The Peerless Coffee.", Gift of David Doret., Library copy has manuscript inscription on the verso: Emma J. Hottle.
Date: [1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Fredrick [P.2017.95.65]

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 statment: 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-Eights Years In Market! The Oldest, The Neatest, The Best, The Quickest. Ask your dealer for Dixon’s Stove Polish, Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J. [Includes an depiction of a box of Dixon’s Prepared Carburet of Iron.], Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1886
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Jos. Dixon [P.2017.95.94]

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