Search results

Title: [Unidentified trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards depicting scenes of Japanese life showing men and women attired in traditional garb; a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeting with a vase of flowers and bamboo; a profile of a woman's face encircled by a flower border and a bird; a female figure attired in robes and a Roman helmet in the clouds holding a mirror showing a child's reflection; sailing vessels on the water; a horseshoe; and flowers., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Bufford (Boston) and Continental Bank Note Co. (New York)., Advertising text printed on versos promotes the gents' shoe department of an unidentified store; fancy furs and cloaks; porcelaines, bronzes, clocks and leather goods; and "all of the ordinary grades at the lowest prices"., Two prints contain calendars for 1880, one for 1879 and one print with sixth months of a calendar for an unidentified year printed on versos., 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 - Unidentified [1975.F.198; 1975.F.215; 1975.F.218; 1975.F.306; 1975.F.483; 1975.F.919; 1975.F.1033; 1975.F.1040; P.9111.12]

Title: While using children's elastic knee protector
Description: llustrated metamorphic trade card depicting a "before using" and "while using" scene of children playing inside. Before using, the children are seated and sullen with their heads in their hands because they have holes in their pants and tights. While using, they smile and build a castle. One boy holds a small puppet booth labeled, "Punch & Judy"., Advertising text promoting "Children's patent elastic knee protector" printed on verso below "before using" image, which folds up to create the complete scene., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Chestnut [1975.F.208]

Title: E.S. Sullivan's Black Diamond Combination is coming in their new version of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Description: Illustrated stock trade card advertising the production of Uncle Tom's Cabin and depicting a white man and woman fishing near an old mill and waterfall. In the right, the man, attired in a hat, a white collared shirt, a blue jacket, brown pants, and black boots, stands on a rock and casts his fishing line. The woman, attired in a brimmed hat, a long-sleeved, blue dress, and black shoes, stands and holds her fishing pole. Behind them is a mill with a water wheel., Title from item., Date based on content., Promotional text printed on verso for Uncle Tom's Cabin includes cast of characters and seat prices., Gift of David Doret, 2011., 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., 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. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Sullivan [P.2011.45.25]

Title: Shafer's pure fruit syrups
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting a male cherub's head and wing framed by torn paper and cracks after poking his head through., Advertising text printed on verso includes testimonials, prices of Shafer's pure fruit syrups, and lists available flavors., 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 - Shafer [1975.F.793]

Title: French etching silk for outlining. Eureka silk. Every spool warranted. The standard silk of the world
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting a couple attired in fancy clothes adorned with flowers. The man holds a staff decorated with a ribbon in his left hand., 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 - Eureka [1975.F.849]

Title: Day's soap does it Washee, washee, see him rub on his washboard in the tub; see him wash and smile with glee for he's from hard labor free; with Day's soap his work is done when his rivals just begun
Description: Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyrighted 1887 by Day & Frick., Racist metamorphic trade card showing a caricaturized Chinese man laundry worker washing a sheet on a wash board in a washtub. Includes a tab that when pulled lifts the washer's arms up and down to reveal the text "Day Soap" on the wash board. The man wears his hair in a queue and is attired in a long-sleeved, blue collared shirt with buttons down the front, blue pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes. He smiles and looks to the right. The tub rests on a table beside a bar of soap, labeled “Day’s Soap.” On the ground behind the table is a basket of laundry. Sheets hang on a drying line. In the background, the wall has Chinese-stylized decorations including a gold wallpaper depicting birds and fish and a purple and gold wall hanging that reads, “Day’s Soap.” Peter Day founded the Day & Frick soap manufactory firm in 1886. He retired as president of the firm in 1917., Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, John D. Avil founded the Avil Printing Company (also known as John D. Avil & Co.) in West Philadelphia and managed it from the early 1860s until his death in 1918.
Date: [1887]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Day's [P.2012.62.8]

Title: "Mack's milk chocolate." The best! It is pure! Ready for instant use. Boiling water only required
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards depicting a couple bowling; a woman shooting a bow at a target, while her male companion smokes a pipe; a man spying on a couple walking through a hayfield; and an illustration of "The Cow Jumps Over the Moon" showing cats playing fiddles as a cow jumps over an anthropomorphic, smiling moon. Mack's milk chocolate was manufactured by Basley & McAlvanah, New York., 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 - Mack's [1975.F.575; 1975.F.577; 1975.F.580; 1975.F.590]

Title: Phenix Ins. Co. Nothing new under the sun
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting three western travelers in Egypt observing an image of a phoenix rising from flames (the Phenix Insurance Company's trademark) on the side of a large boulder. Travelers include a lady with a parasol seated on a camel, a man riding a donkey and another ma with a Phenix Ins. Co. policy in his back pocket hunched in front of the rock closely observing the image. Also shows two natives, an Egyptian woman pointing to the boulder and a naked man on top of the rock looking down at the travelers. The title mimics hieroglyphics in the rock adjacent to the phoenix. A caravan line is visible in the right background., 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 - Phenix [1975.F.672]

Title: H.M.S. Pinafore
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting a scene from Sullivan & Gilbert's comic opera "Her Majesty's Ship Pinafore" including a captain, his crew and women on the deck of a ship with two large spools of Willimantic's "Superior Six Cord Thread". Caption reads: "B.--Did you ever? C.--No! Never! B.--What never? C. Positively never! used anything equal to Willimantic Six Cord Spool Cotton.", Advertising text printed on verso lists the awards won by Willimantic's Six Cord Spool Cotton, including the gold medal awarded by Maryland Institute Fair in 1878. Includes vignettes of the obverse and reverse surfaces of the medal., 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 - Willimantic [1975.F.666]

Title: Use ideal cut plug
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting an informal portrait of a woman sitting and lounging in a rocking chair with her hands behind her head and her legs crossed., Advertising text printed on verso: Notice. Coupons for pipes will hereafter be found in every package of ideal cut plug and will received instead of the labels. To secure free a handsome brier pipe send twenty-four coupons to Arthur Hagen & Co., 63 North Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. W.B. Tunstall, 43 South Holliday Street, Baltimore, Md. S.W. Venable Tobacco Co., Petersburg, Va. Ideal is the cleanest and best chew or smoke., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Ideal [P.9983.4]

Title: No more Chinese cheap labor. Celluloid cuffs, collars & bosoms
Description: Trade card containing an illustration depicting a racist scene with the figures of Uncle Sam and America, and a Chinese man laundry worker. In the left, the laundry worker, wearing his hair in a queue and attired in a long-sleeved, orange tunic; long, wide-legged, white pants; and orange slip-on, cloth shoes; sits on an over-turned wooden wash tub. His eyes are closed, and he holds his head down in his left hand. His left leg is crossed over his right, and his right hand is on his left ankle. To his left, the white woman figure of Columbia/America, looks down at the laundry worker and points up with her right hand. In her left hand, she holds up a shield with the pattern of the American flag and marked "Invention." She wears her dark hair pulled back to the nape of her neck and is attired in a gown with the pattern of the American flag, a red and blue cap adorned with a white star, and sandals. An open box of spilled starch lies between her feet and those of the laundry worker. Behind the laundry worker, is a laundry iron on a shelf, Chinese characters written on a wall, and Uncle Sam resting his arms on the ledge of an opening in the wall. Uncle Sam has red hair and a beard and is attired in a top hat, a blue jacket with a white star pattern, a red neck tie, and white shirt with the collar turned up. He looks at America. Above his head is the sign "Gon Up Chinese Laundry." Patented during the 1860s and 70s, separable celluloid collars, unlike separable paper collars, were waterproof and longer lasting, as well as fashionable and affordable. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the celluloid collar industry leveraged the racist legislation to promote the use of celluloid collars as patriotic and as a means to make Chinese launderers obsolete and to facilitate the end of Chinese immigration., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Includes advertising text printed on verso: A New Improvement-Patented. Waterproof Linen. Waterproof-Elastic-Durable. Ladies' & Gents' Cuffs Collars, [Bossa]ms, Made From Celluloid. In Introducing this new invention [italicized], we beg to call the attention of the public to some of the remarkable features of this "new departure," [italicized], which will commend the use of these goods to all who study economy, neatness, and beauty [italicized]. 1st. The Interior is Fine Linen. 2d. The Exterior is Celluloid. 3d. The Union 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 Wipe Them Off With Soap And Water. 5th. The Goods Never Wilt Or Fray On Edges. 6th. They Are Perspiration Proof. For Sale by All Gents' Furnishing & Fancy Goods Houses throughout the Country., Image caption: "Othello's occupation gone." The Hand Writing on the Wall., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Celluloid [P.2021.20.1]

Title: The genuine Murray & Lanman Florida Water the richest of all perfumes
Description: Illustrated trade card promoting Murray & Lanman’s perfume and depicting a full-length profile of a woman, possibly meant to be Asian, carrying a parasol over her shoulder. The woman wears her hair tied up in a bun and is attired in a pink and yellow, kimono-style dress, with a white collar, and pink shoes. She stands on the grass in front of a large fountain and dangles an object in front of her face, observing it closely. Murray & Lanman, the partnership between perfumer Robert I. Murray and David Trumbull Lanman, formed in 1835 in New York City. The firm's style changed to David T. Lanman & Co., then Lanman & Kemp in 1861., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1881 by Lanman & Kemp, N.Y., Advertising text printed on verso: Always a favorite. Time has proved beyond a question that our claim to the title of “Imperishable Perfume” for our Murray & Lanman’s Florida Water is based upon absolute facts. It is to-day, as when first it appeared, winning immediate favor with all classes. The sweetest, the richest, the most delicate, the most lasting of all perfumes. Where, except in this delicious floral water, can one find such a rare combination of excellencies? Since the introduction of Murray & Lanman’s Florida Water, numberless rivals and imitations have been foisted upon the public, to live their day and fall into the neglect which, sooner or later, attends pretentious inferiority. The genuine article is known by the words, “Lanman & Kemp, New York,” Printed in water-mark on every leaf of the little pamphlet wrapped around each bottle. This mark also protects our other preparations., 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 - Murray [1975.F.598]

Title: Smith Brothers chemically pure Borax
Description: Racist trade card advertising soap manufacturers the Smith Brothers and depicting the white woman head of house with three of her women housekeepers while they use Borax to complete various tasks in the kitchen. In the center, the mistress of the house, attired in a red dress with a white collar and cuffs, applies Borax onto a white cloth held by a white housekeeper. In the left, a white housekeeper sprinkles Borax over a group of cockroaches on the floor in front of the stove. In the right, the African American woman housekeeper, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a white head kerchief with red polka dots, a yellow dress with red stripes, white stockings, and tan shoes, stands before a wash basin with her hands in the soapy water. Behind her a clothesline full of white sheets hang. Brothers Frank and Julius Smith established Smith Brothers Borax in 1874. In 1888, Frank Smith incorporated his new company, Pacific Coast Borax., Title from item., Date inferred from date of operation of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso provides directions and various uses for Smith Brothers' Borax, including washing, starching, preventing moths, removing cockroaches, dressing ulcers, wounds, bruises, sprains, and chilblains, removing inflammation, bathing, arresting fermentation and cleaning clothes., Distributor's imprint print on verso: Githens & Rexsamer, 40 and 42 South Front Sts., Philadelphia., 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 - Smith Brothers [1975.F.751]

Title: [Haverly's Theatre, "The World," trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards entitled, "The escape, tableau V," "Jerusalem! My own notes! Act. 1 Sc. 1," and "The infernal machine, tableau II" depicting various scenes from "The World" performed at Haverly's Theatre on Monday, April 10, 1882, including guards scrambling in a enclosed courtyard; men and women standing on a pier with a a body of water and a large mountain in the background; and an explosion on a steamship with a man in the foreground shooting into a group of men. By the 1880s, J.H. Haverly owned several theaters in New York, and one in Brooklyn, Chicago and San Francisco., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized., Founded in 1849 as Middleton and Wallace, the company's style changed to The Strobridge Lithographing Company in 1880.
Date: 1882
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Haverly's [1975.F.448; 1975.F.450 & 451]

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: J.W. LeMaistre. No. 48 N. Eighth St., Philadelphia Embroideries, laces, white goods, real and Nottingham lace curtains, corsets, gloves, &c
Description: Racist trade card promoting lace manufacturer J.W. LeMaistre and depicting a white man photographer showing a Native American person his photograph outside a pavillion. In the left, the Native American person, portrayed in racist caricature and attired a feathered headress, a tunic with a feathered skirt, hoop earrings, bracelets, and anklets, bends slightly forward and looks at a portrait photograph of themself. In the right, the photographer, attired in a long-sleeved blue shirt with a white collar, a pink bowtie, white pants, and black shoes, bends forward as he holds up the photograph from the floor with both hands. A large camera with hood stands behind him. Several white men pedestrians, an obelisk, and a neoclassical building can be seen in the left background. John W. LeMaistre (1840-1915) is listed in the Philadelphia directories as a lacemaker from circa 1880s. He incorporated the firm, the LeMaistre Lace and Embroidery Co., in 1905., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of advertised business., Includes copyright statement: Copyrighted., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - LeMaistre [P.2022.9]

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