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Title: "She lives way down dar"
Description: Scene depicting an older African American woman giving directions to another African American woman in front of her home. At her open gate, the woman, wearing gray hair and attired in a long-sleeved, patterned dress, a plaid shawl, and a white apron, points left indicating the desired direction. The other woman, attired in a bonnet, a long-sleeved shirt, and a skirt, holds a milk can in her right hand and looks left with her back to the viewer. In the background is a wooden house with a large vine propped up on poles., Title from manuscript note by photographer on verso., Signed by photographer on verso., Alternate title from lantern slide at the Staten Island New York Historical Society., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, at national and international photography exhibitions. His photographs won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [photographed ca. 1886, printed ca. 1895]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.177]

Title: The Ledger carrier's annual greeting. To their subscribers, New Year, 1855
Description: Allegorical print depicting female allegorical figures in front of a temple of Justice. Depicts in the left, Peace as a white woman attired in a laurel wreath crown and a white Roman gown, standing across from the white figure of Liberty and pointing with her left hand toward the temple in the background. Liberty, wearing the American flag as a cape, and with a liberty pole and cap in hand, charges toward the temple. Three muse-like female followers, including two white women, one holding an urn, and a Black woman, looking toward the temple, stand alongside her. Behind Peace, a white cherub stands by a stack of books. Scene also includes a discarded shield and sword laying on the ground in the foreground., Title from item., Presumably issued late in 1854 by Swain, Abell & Simons, the publisher of the Philadelphia newspaper, the Public Ledger, for their subscribers., Printed below the image: Printing! the art of every art preserver. The lever that uplifts the world of mind. Of Justice, Peace, and Human Rights conserver; The sense of vision to the mental blind. The torch of genius flashes o’er its pages, Illumes Fame’s temple with its dazzling ray. And marks the means for moulding future ages, In universal education’s sway., Purchase 1984., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Sartain, a premier Philadelphia portrait and genre engraver of the 19th century, was also a social reformer who often incorporated his reformist beliefs into his work., Schussele was a historical, genre, landscape, and portrait painter and respected professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts whose paintings his professional associate and friend, John Sartain, often engraved.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [1854]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Allegories - L [P.9000.1]

Title: Five Brothers plug tobacco "the best"
Description: Racist trade card promoting tobacco manufacturer John Finzer Bros. and depicting an African American girl and a white girl looking at a newspaper together. The two girls sit side-by-side on a stone wall with their naked backsides revealed to the viewer. In the left, the blond-haired white girl is barefooted and attired in a pink hat with blue trim and a short-sleeved pink dress with white lace around the neck and sleeves. In the right, the African American girl is attired in a short-sleeved white dress with blue stripes with lace around the sleeves and gold buttons at the top of the back. Both girls' dresses are open at the back revealing their naked bottoms. They hold a newspaper titled "Tale of Two Cities." The white girl points her finger at an advertisement for "Five Brothers Plug" in the paper. In the foreground are a number of blooming white and pink flowers. In the background several trees are visible. Five Brothers Tobacco Works, later called J. Finzer Brothers Company, was established by the five Finzer brothers: John, Benjamin, Frederick, Rudolph, and Nicholas in 1866 in Louisville, Kentucky. American Tobacco Company acquired the firm in the early 20th century., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: The little "Narrative" on the other side is plainly if briefly told. That "Five Brothers Plug Tobacco is the Best" is our opinion. It is certainly the best we can make by employing only the choicest selections out of the highest grade Leaf Tobacco marketed, and using in connection with the same absolutely pure ingredients to produce flavor and a palatable chew. We now want your judgment. Ask for Five Brothers Plug, and we believe you will always use it. John Finzer & Bros. maufacturers, Louisville, Kentucky., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Five Brothers [P.2017.95.64]

Title: We never fade!! J. & P. Coats best six cord 200 yds 50
Description: Racist trade card promoting J.&. P. Coats thread and depicting a caricature of an African American boy sitting on an oversized spool of thread in a field. Shows the boy seated and with his legs straddling a giant spool of black thread labeled, "J&P Coats best six cord 200 yds 50." He says “we never fade!!” and points his finger at the sun, which has a face and a concerned expression with a downward turned mouth. The boy is barefoot and attired in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows; a multi-colored tie and belt; and red pants rolled up to the knees. In the foreground, two black crows look at the thread. A house is visible in the right background. Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title from item., Advertising text printed on verso: Fast Black Spool Cotton. Does it wear? Does it wash? When a textile fabric must be dyed a pure, rich, deep black, the question that presents itself to the dyer is: “Will these goods be washed in ordinary soap and water, or will they be dipped in some powerful acid, like aquafortis, sulphuric, or muriatic acid?” It they must withstand every-day wear and tear; he will not be so foolish as to fix his black by aid of powerful acids, but will treat the goods mildly, and thus secure superior strength and endurance. In like manner, a druggist will not put a rubber stopper in a bottle filled with sugar and water; he will naturally use an ordinary cork, and save the rubber for resisting violent acids. It is well to look with suspicion on all Acid Tests applied to Spool Cotton. To resist acids, the dyer must use acids at peril of rotting the thread. Intelligent people do not wash their clothes in acid baths. J. & P. Coats’ Black will hold its color as long as any fabric on which it can be used., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - J. & P. Coats [P.2017.95.89]

Title: Your home is not complete without the Missouri Steam Washer. The best washing machine in the world. Johnston Bro's. St. Louis. Philadelphia There are more Missouri Steam Washers sold than all other washing machines in the world combined
Description: Trade card for the small portable washing machine invented by George D. Ferris and marketed by Johnston Bros., "General Agents for the United States." Depicts two male fairies, one white and one African American, presenting a "Missouri Steam Washer. Pat'd. May 1, 1883" to a white woman who stands over a washboard in a wash tub. Steam rises from the tub filled with clothes. The African American fairy, portrayed in racist caricature with orange wings and attired in blue pants with suspenders, pushes in the metal washing machine on a dolly, while the other fairy points to it. The African American fairy image was often used in newspaper advertisements for the machine that operated through placement on a family cook stove, internal perforated steam tubes, and a crank to keep the clothes in motion during washing., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1884., Contains five testimonials, including one by G. R. Brandt and Harry E. Brandt (Hurricane Laundry, 232 New Street), Philadelphia, Pa., printed on verso., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1884
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Johnston [P.2013.35.1]

Title: Concentrated leaven or bread powders
Description: Advertisement for baking powder depicting an African American woman cook, portrayed as a racist caricature, displaying her oversized bread to a white woman. In the right, the African American woman, attired in a yellow kerchief, hoop earrings, a red dress with the sleeves rolled up, a white apron, white stockings with red stripes, and yellow shoes, holds a shovel in her left hand and points to the bread with her right hand. The gargantuan bread in the pan rests on a table covered in a white tablecloth alongside other pans of baked goods. Behind the table, the brown-haired, white woman, attired in a white dress with blue stripes with lace at the neck and sleeves, holds her hands up in shock over the over-proved bread. Underneath the table, the cook’s young daughter, attired in a short-sleeved yellow dress, sits on a rug and makes bubbles with a bowl and stick to play with a cat. Image also includes an oven and a metal basin., Not in Wainwright, Title from item., Date from content., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 40, Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Advertisements [(7)1322.F.441b]

Title: Carr & Murray, carpets, furniture & bedding, 61 & 63 Myrtle Avenue. Three doors from Jay Street, B[rooklyn]
Description: Racist trade card promoting Carr & Murray, dealers in household furnishings, and depicting trompe l'oeil image with an African American boy portrayed with exaggerated features and bust length. The boy is depicted by pulling down the left corner of the card. He points at a partially-visible rabbit who hops away in the lower right. The boy is attired in white hat and a blue shirt with a red and white striped collar. James J. Carr and Lindley H. Murray of Carr & Murray owned a store selling household furnishings at 61 & 63 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, N.Y. from circa 1879 to circa 1891., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business and visual content., Right edge of the card is trimmed., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Carr & Murray [P.2017.95.23]

Title: It stands at the head. "Domestic" sewing machine
Description: Racist trade card promoting Domestic Sewing Machine Company and depicting a caricaturized genre scene of an African American family looking to their right at a billboard on the side of a building. The figures are portrayed with exaggerated feaures. Shows an older, squat man, a woman, and three children seated and standing in a horse-drawn cart halted on a dirt road. An older boy stands behind the cart. The man, attired in a top hat; a ragged jacket; a shirt with bowtie; and pants with patches on the knees and suspenders sits smiling and holding in his hands a stick and the reins of his horse that wears blinders. The woman, attired in spectacles; a straw hat with a decorative ribbon that is tied under her chin in a bow; a long-sleeved dress; and a shawl stands up inside the cart. She holds a baby in her left arm and points at the billboard with her right hand. A boy attired in a long shirt and pants sits beside the man in the front of the cart. Behind the man, a girl attired in a bonnet stands. The boy outside of the cart is barefooted and attired in a cap; a shirt; and ragged pants with a hole at the knee, and carries a basket. A dog, its tail between its legs, hunches underneath the cart. In the left, the billboard is illustrated with a sewing machine in the center of a star with the advertising text around it. Text reads: "It stands at the head : Copyrighted by the "Domestic" Sewing Machine Co. The star that leads them all. Unequalled for simplicity of construction ease of operation and durability. The light running "Domestic" sewing machine." In the distant right background a house is visible. William S. Mack & Co. and N.S. Perkins founded the Domestic Sewing Machine Company in 1864 in Norwalk, Ohio. The White Sewing Machine Company bought the company in 1924., Title from item., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Distributor's imprint printed on recto: E.R. Bumps, jeweller, Waldoboro, ME., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Domestic [P.2017.95.51]

Title: These are to certify, that [blank] is a member of the New-Jersey Society, for promoting the abolition of slavery. [blank] Presdt. Secy. [blank]
Description: Abolition society certificate depicting a white, Federal-era man pointing toward a chained, kneeling enslaved man who declares, "Am I not a Man and brother!" In the left, the enslaved man, attired in a white loincloth and with chains binding his hands to his feet, kneels down on his right knee upon a marble pedestal and clasps his hands together. In the right, the white man, attired in a white cravat, a waistcoat, a jacket, breeches, and black shoes, stands and holds in his left hand a Bible opened to Isaiah 61:1 atop the marble altar, which is inscribed with the verse: "He came to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Heavenly beams shine down upon them through an opening in the clouds. The New Jersey abolition society was established in 1793., Unused certificate., Title from item., Illustration of a kneeling male slave on the certificate is a variant of the image popularized by Josiah Wedgwood. Formed in 1787, the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade designed and adopted as its seal the image of a kneeling African male slave asking, "Am I not a man and a brother?" That same year, Wedgwood, a ceramics manufacturer and member of the Committee, issued the image as a medallion, which was distributed in America. The image became a popular anti-slavery icon and was soon widely reproduced on artifacts and in print in the United States and in Britain. During the 1820s, a female counterpart with the motto, "Am I not a woman and a sister?" was created by British abolitionists and quickly embraced in the United States, particularly among women abolitionists., Accessioned 1968., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1800]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Certificates [7762.F]

Title: Uncle Tom and Little Eva
Description: Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts Little Eva, the "angelic" young, white daughter of a Louisiana enslaver informing "Uncle Tom," the African American man enslaved by her father, of her impending death. Eva, with her blonde hair in ringlets and attired in a white dress, white stockings, and black shoes, points to heaven with her right hand and to the Bible in her lap with her left. She sits next to a barefooted, slightly hunched over Tom, attired in a red shirt with an open neck and blue pants, on a grassy mound in the woods. Also includes a cabin visible in the left background., Title from item., The Kellogg's firm, brothers Edmund Burke and Elijah Chapman, was a prolific New England lithographic firm that nearly rivaled Currier & Ives in the production of popular prints., Reaccessioned as P.9179.10., Purchase 1969., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Fictional Characters [7807.F]

Title: [J. & P. Coat's thread trade cards]
Description: Series of trade cards promoting J.&. P. Coats thread and depicting men, women and children performing a variety of activities with the thread, including a white girl swinging on a tree swing; a white man fishing in a stream while a white woman watches; and several white children pretending to be a horse team. Includes a large frog on a riverbank. "So do my sisters and my cousins and my aunts!" depicts an older white woman carrying packages. "Gulliver and the Lilliputians" based on Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" shows an oversized Gulliver being tied down with thread by the Lilliputians. "That's the kind! Bring me some more" depicts an older white woman inspecting different colored spools of thread in a box held up by a white boy. "Ef dis don't fetch you nothing will" depicts an African American man and woman, portrayed in racist caricature, trying to tame a donkey. In the left, the woman, attired in a white bonnet with a red ribbon, a red shirt, a blue scarf, a yellow shirt, a white apron, and gray shoes, uses thread from an enormous J. & P. Coats spool to pull on the bridle on the donkey, who pulls back with its mouth open. Behind the donkey, the man stands, attired in a brown, brimmed hat, a red shirt, blue plaid pants, and blue shoes, who holds a rope in his left hand and scratches his head with his left hand. "We never fade!" depicts an African American boy, portrayed in racist caricature, sitting on an oversized spool of thread in a field. Shows the boy seated and with his legs straddling a giant spool of black thread. He says “we never fade!!” and points his finger at the sun, which has a face and a concerned expression with a downward turned mouth. The boy is barefoot and attired in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows; a multi-colored tie and belt; and red pants rolled up to the knees. In the foreground, two black crows look at the thread. A house is visible in the right background., Brothers James Coats, Jr. (1803-1845) and Peter Coats (1808-1890) established the firm J.&P. Coats, a thread manufactory. Their brother Thomas Coats (1809-1883) joined the firm soon after. By 1840, three quarters of the British company’s business was with the United States. In 1896, the firm merged with thread manufacturer Clark & Co. and formed J. & P. Coats, Ltd. In 2015, the firm was renamed, “Coats Group.”, Title supplied by cataloger., Five prints printed by E. Ketterlinus & Co., Ten prints contain advertising text printed on versos, including promotions for J. & P. Coat's best six cord, soft finish spool cotton; a table of needle and thread numbers; a calendar for 1880; and a description of "Gulliver and the Lilliputians" illustration (on recto of print 1975.F.220)., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883. Purchase 1999. Purchase 2001., 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., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Coats [1975.F.123; 1975.F.126; 1975.F.133; 1975.F.150; 1975.F.157; 1975.F.193; 1975.F.195; 1975.F.220; 69211.D; P.9743; P.9984.4]

Title: Pulling down the statue of George III "By the Sons of Freedom." At the Bowling Green City of New York, July 1776
Description: Print commemorating American independence after the painting by religious and historical artist, Johannes A. Oertelat, at the New York Historical Society. Depicts white men attempting to topple the equestrian statue of King George following the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the foot of Broadway. At the base, men pull on ropes wrapped around the sculpture while men from behind use rods to knock it over. In front of the pedestal, an African American man has fallen over on the ground. An excited crowd of spectators, including well-to-do and working class men, women, and children cheer, point, hold torches and mallets, and trample upon the broken fence once surrounding the statue. In the left is a Native American man attired in a feather headdress and carrying a spear. Several dogs run in the foreground. In the background, ships in New York harbor are visible., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1978., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: McRae, John C., engraver
Date: c1859
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-American Revolution [8384.F.11]

Title: [Plate 11 and advertisements from Rae's Philadelphia pictorial directory & panoramic advertiser. Chestnut Street, from Second to Tenth Streets]
Description: Plate showing a section of the 700 block (166-213 pre consolidation) of Chestnut Street. South side includes Mrs. M. Burke’s Millenery [sic] Rooms and Winchester & Scott, Gentlemen’s Furnishing Store (172); Cornelius & Co., Gas Fixtures (176); Willis P. Hazard, Cheap Book Store (178); and McClees & Germon, Daguerreotype Rooms and Jos. S. Natt, Looking Glasses (182). North side includes the Masonic Hall (built 1808-1811 after the designs of William Strickland) and tenant businesses, including D. A. Warden, Pianos, Melodeons, [A. D. K.] Moore, Fancy Stationery, and A. Hildebrandt, Fancy Baskets & Toys (225); Washington House hotel with offices of the proprietor A. F. Glass (221-223); china ware importers Tyndale & Mitchell (219); Geo. W. Ward, Gentleman’s Furnishings Store (217); Sturdivant’s House hotel (215); and Warne’s Rifle & Pistol Gallery (213). Also shows the Warne façade adorned with a sign illustrated with the figure of a man pointing to the left., Advertisements promote twelve of the businesses depicted, including McClees & Germon who advertise "The increased width of the street, occasioned by the recess formed by the Masonic Hall, (which is directly opposite) and a front almost entirely of glass, give facilities for an operating room on the Second Floor, with a North light, (the most pleasant, effective and certain of all others, where a sufficiency can be obtained,) possessed by no other establishment of the city…." Several of the advertisements contain ornamented type and two contain illustrations depicting a man pointing (Warne’s) and a man’s shirt (Ward’s Improved Pattern, Warranted to Fit)., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Folder 12., LCP also holds trimmed duplicates depicting North side [P.2008.34.16.7 and (1)1322.F.274] and trimmed duplicate depicting South side [P.2008.34.16.9].
Creator: Rae, Julio H.
Date: [1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Rae - Folder 12 [*Am 1851 Rae, 2975.Q]

Title: [Plate 11 and advertisements from Rae's Philadelphia pictorial directory & panoramic advertiser. Chestnut Street, from Second to Tenth Streets]
Description: Plate showing a section of the 700 block (166-213 pre consolidation) of Chestnut Street. South side includes Mrs. M. Burke’s Millenery [sic] Rooms and Winchester & Scott, Gentlemen’s Furnishing Store (172); Cornelius & Co., Gas Fixtures (176); Willis P. Hazard, Cheap Book Store (178); and McClees & Germon, Daguerreotype Rooms and Jos. S. Natt, Looking Glasses (182). North side includes the Masonic Hall (built 1808-1811 after the designs of William Strickland) and tenant businesses, including D. A. Warden, Pianos, Melodeons, [A. D. K.] Moore, Fancy Stationery, and A. Hildebrandt, Fancy Baskets & Toys (225); Washington House hotel with offices of the proprietor A. F. Glass (221-223); china ware importers Tyndale & Mitchell (219); Geo. W. Ward, Gentleman’s Furnishings Store (217); Sturdivant’s House hotel (215); and Warne’s Rifle & Pistol Gallery (213). Also shows the Warne façade adorned with a sign illustrated with the figure of a man pointing to the left., Advertisements promote twelve of the businesses depicted, including McClees & Germon who advertise "The increased width of the street, occasioned by the recess formed by the Masonic Hall, (which is directly opposite) and a front almost entirely of glass, give facilities for an operating room on the Second Floor, with a North light, (the most pleasant, effective and certain of all others, where a sufficiency can be obtained,) possessed by no other establishment of the city…." Several of the advertisements contain ornamented type and two contain illustrations depicting a man pointing (Warne’s) and a man’s shirt (Ward’s Improved Pattern, Warranted to Fit)., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Folder 12., LCP also holds trimmed duplicates depicting North side [P.2008.34.16.7 and (1)1322.F.274] and trimmed duplicate depicting South side [P.2008.34.16.9].
Creator: Rae, Julio H.
Date: [1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Rae - Folder 12 [*Am 1851 Rae, 2975.Q]

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