[Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co. trade cards]
Title
[Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co. trade cards]
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards for patent medicines and an almanac created by Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co. in Lowell, Massachusetts. Illustrations depict sirens with an "Ayer's hair vigor" shipping crate, hair brushes, and product bottles near a wrecked ship and stranded sailors; a girl holding flowers under a cherry tree in the countryside; Penn's Treaty with the Indians in 1682 with two men kneeling and presenting an "Ayer's cherry pectoral" scroll to the Native Americans; and two men and an apprentice with a printing press in a scene labeled "The invention of printing". J.C. Ayer & Co. operated in Lowell, Massachusetts from about 1850 to 1930., Title supplied by cataloger., Three prints [1975.F.2; 1975.F.9; 1975.F.11a] contain advertising text on versos for products prepared by J.C. Ayer & Co. including "Ayer's hair vigor" and "Ayer's cherry pectoral"., Printed on verso of print P.9111.11: To Bennie from Aunt Florence George. Eat drink and be merry and now will be happy all of the days of your life., 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 - Ayer [1975.F.2; 1975.F.9a; 1975.F.11a; P.9111.11]
[Geo. S. Harris & Sons print specimens]
Title
[Geo. S. Harris & Sons print specimens]
Description
Series of specimens, primarily for trade cards and labels, printed by the prominent Philadelphia lithographic firm. Subjects include fanciful, allegorical, and sentimental scenes and portraiture with women, children, and flowers; hunting and recreational scenes; international iconography; animals (dogs, horses, and an alligator clutching a Black baby in its jaws); political and military imagery, including President James Garfield; land and marinescapes; and mythological and fairy tale views. Collection also includes specimen without an imprint and probably printed by Harris showing a plantation scene with a white man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, white pants, and a sword on his waistband, placing his right hand on the shoulder of a barefooted Black man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and white pants that are torn at the bottom, who carries a hoe. They stand before a body of water surrounded by flowers and trees with the plantation in the background. Racist scene shows a white female angel with wings pouring packages of tobacco from a cornucopia to a group of men and women from various ethnic groups and nationalities, including Native Americans, Chinese, Spanish, and Middle Eastern people, many of which smoke cigars, hookahs, and pipes. Specimen depicting a man, attired in a turban with a dagger in his waistband, kneeling with a rifle beside him. Surrounding him are palms and desert plants. In the right background, a lions stands and looks on., Title supplied by cataloger., Publication date inferred from content of one print depicting President James Garfield., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Gift of Margaret Robinson, 1991., 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.
Date
[ca. 1881]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimen Album Loose Prints Collection - Geo. S. Harris [P.9349.279, 283-284, 292, 298-307, 309, 317-318, 321, 328-329, 332, 436-437, 439, 441-442, 447, 451-453 & 455-456]