Kendall M'f'g. Co. Providence. R.I. French laundry soap [graphic].
Title
Kendall M'f'g. Co. Providence. R.I. French laundry soap
Description
Racist trade card promoting Kendall’s French Laundry Soap and depicting caricatures of two African American boys carrying an African American girl in a “sedan chair” that is made from a box of Kendall’s soap. In the left, the barefooted boy attired in a straw hat, a red shirt, and white pants with black suspenders holds the tree branch carrying the sedan over his right shoulder with his right hand. His left hand is in his pants pocket. In the right, the barefooted boy attired in a straw hat, a blue shirt, and white pants holds the other end of the branch over his left shoulder with his left hand and carries a branch with red flowers in his right hand. In the center, the girl, attired in a white dress and black shoes, sits inside of a box labeled, “Kendall MFG Co. French Laundry Soap.” She holds a black doll costumed in a hat and white dress on her lap. The boys walk through a grassy field. Henry L. Kendall (1805-1883) founded a soap manufactory in Providence, R.I. in 1827. The Kendall Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1860. The Company continued to manufacture soap into the mid-20th century., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from place of operation of the advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso:The “French Laundry” is the best soap ever made for all purposes. It is the Oldest Popular Soap in the market, Having Outlived all its Rivals. It has won its way into public favor solely on its merits, and thousands of families who are now using it would not be without it. It is now offered in a 3-4 Pound Pressed Cake, as well as in the old style Pound Bar for such persons as prefer it in that way. If you will give it one trial, you will never be without it. Kendall Mfg. Co. Established 1827. Providence, R.I., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Kendall [P.2017.95.95]
“Universal family” Soapine, Kendall Mfg. Co., Providence, R.I. [graphic].
Title
“Universal family” Soapine, Kendall Mfg. Co., Providence, R.I
Description
Racist trade card promoting Kendall Manufacturing Co.’s Soapine and depicting caricatures and ethnic stereotypes of people helping Liberty wash laundry. Shows Liberty in the center personified as a white woman with blonde hair tied up in a bun attired in a blue cap with a white star and a white sleeveless dress with a red belt that has an American flag crest. She stands behind a wooden wash tub labeled “Kendall MFG Co.” that sits on top of six boxes labeled with the letter K. She spreads both of her arms out to the seven people around her. In the left, a white man with blond hair and mustache (possibly German,) holds a pipe in his mouth and is attired in a blue tunic, brown pants, and black shoes. He bends over as he carries a large box labeled “universal soap” on his back. A white Scottish man with blonde hair, attired in a blue cap with a yellow feather, a green shirt with a red sash, and a red kilt, helps a white man with black hair and mustache (possibly French) attired in a blue uniform with gold epaulettes and black shoes, carry a large straw basket filled with white laundry to the wash tub. In the right, caricatures of an African American man in a white sleeveless top, a Native American man attired with a feather headdress and blue pants with a bundle of arrows on his back, and a Chinese man with his hair styled in a queue attired in a blue tunic, brown pants, and blue, slip-on, cloth shoes, carry an oversize wash board labeled “French Laundry Soap.” In the center foreground, a white man with blonde hair and attired in a blue shirt, brown pants, blue socks, and black shoes, has fallen down on the ground. Beside him is a broken white pipe, and a small black cat runs away. Henry L. Kendall (1805-1883) founded a soap manufactory in Providence, R.I. in 1827. The Kendall Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1860. The Company continued to manufacture soap into the mid-20th century., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from place of operation of the 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 - Kendall [P.2017.95.96]