Racist trade card promoting Gately & Britton's home furnishing store in Reading, Pa. and depicting a caricature of an African American boy sitting against a fence post eating a large slice of watermelon. Shows the boy squatting on his toes and smiling at the viewer as he holds a piece of watermelon in both hands. He has taken the melon out of a field of watermelon plants surrounded by a barbed wire fence. He is attired in a torn straw hat, blue shorts with a patch, and only the partial sleeves of a red and white striped shirt. The rest of the shirt has ripped and hangs from the barbed wire in the left. On the ground in the left is the watermelon with a slice cut from it with the handle of a knife protuding out of it. In the right is a small, white and brown dog. Edward Gately and G.M. Britton established a home furnishings store called Gately & Britton at 940 Penn Street, Reading, Pa. in 1887. The business continued operating into the 20th century., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Publication information and date from copyright statement: Copyrighted 1887 by Chas. Brown., Series number on recto: C-762., Gift of David Doret.
Date
1887
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Gately [P.2017.95.68]
