Die-cut scrap depicting a racist caricature of an African American man attired a white collared shirt and beige bowtie. Shows the bust-length portrait of the man facing left with his mouth open. He is portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a white collared shirt and beige bowtie., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell.
Date
[ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Scraps - Scrap 11 [P.2017.95.264]
Racist trade card promoting Higgins' soap and depicting a caricature of an African American family getting ready for church. The family is portrayed with exaggerated features and speak in the vernacular. In the center, the husband/father stands smiling attired in a white ruffled shirt, a red and white bow tie, a yellow waistcoat, a long black jacket, red and white checked pants, black shoes, and white gloves. The wife/mother, attired in a bonnet decorated with a blue bow and flowers, a red shawl, a blue dress with black stripes, a yellow bow tie, and black shoes, smiles as she adjusts the bowtie on her husband and says, “yer looks lubly Ephraim, and it all comes using dat Higgins soap.” Their son, attired in a yellow hat with a black band, a red shirt with a white lace collar, green pants, red socks, and black shoes, looks up at the couple carrying a red book in his left hand. In the left, behind the couple, are two more children. The girl in the left is attired in a white head kerchief, a yellow shirt with orange stripes, a white skirt, red stockings, and black shoes. The boy in the right is attired in a blue cap, a blue shirt with a white collar, blue pants, red and white striped socks, and black shoes. A print depicting a red building and two people is pasted on the wall in the right background. The Charles S. Higgins Company, established by Higgins’s father W. B. Higgins in Brooklyn in 1846, manufactured "German Laundry soap" beginning around 1860, when Charles assumed the business. The laundry soap was packaged in a wrapper illustrated with an African American woman washing in a tub. By the early 1890s, Charles S. Higgins left the firm still operated under his name and formed Higgins Soap Company. Court proceedings over trademarks and tradenames ensued and Higgins Soap Company became insolvent by the mid 1890s., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Higgins' [P.2017.95.81]
