Racist trade card promoting Roi du Caoutchouc's trench coats and depicting a bust-length portrait caricature of a fashionable black man. The man is depicted with exaggerated facial features, including a broad smile and long eye lashes. He is attired in a gold, bejeweled crown; gold hoop earrings; a trench coat with the collar raised; and gray turtleneck. Roi du Caoutchouc was a Belgium manufacturer of raincoats and trenchcoats in business originally in the 1920s. Leopold Trepper, a Polish Soviet intelligence agent, acquired the company in 1938 and launched a Brussels operation that expanded into an import-export business called the Foreign Excellent Trenchcoat Company. Trepper used the firm as a front for espionage. In 1940, during World War II, the Germans assumed control of the company., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: Imperméables, Au Roi du Caoutchouc., Advertising text printed on verso: Trouver mieux? Impossible! Les imperméables et gabardines au roi du caoutchouc sont reconnus les meilleurs, les plus élégants, les moins chers. Apercu de quelques prix: Imperméables très solides depuis 45 frs. Trench-coats entièrement doublés et huilés depuis 75 frs. Gabardines entièrement doublées 1/2 soie depuis 95 frs. 55 succursales en Belgique. Bruxelles 103, Boulevard Ad. Max. 161, Chaussée de Waterloo. 141, Rue haute. 51, Rue de Flandre. 15, Chaussée de Louvain. Translation of advertising text: Find better? Impossible! The rubber king's raincoats and garbardines are recognized as the best, the most elegant, the cheapest. Preview of some prices: Very solid waterproofs for 45 frs. Trench-coats fully lined and oiled for 75 frs. Gabardines fully lined 1/2 silk for 95 frs. 55 branches in Belgium. Brussels 103, Boulevard Ad. Max. 161, Waterloo Causeway. 141 High Street. 51 Flanders Street. 15, Leuven Causeway., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1930]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Au Roi du Caoutchouc [P.2017.95.9]
