© Copyright 2020 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- Van Stan's Stratena, the best cement in the world Great lecture on Van Stan's Stratena by Julius Augustus Cesar at Ethiopian Hall. Mends china, glass, wood, bone, metal, jet, coral, porcelain, leather, ivory, stone, &c. &c
- Description
- Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man lecturing in front of an audience of well-dressed African American men on a stage. The lecturer leans on a wooden table and is attired in a brown jacket, a tan vest, a white shirt with gold cuff links, a white bowtie, blue pants, and black shoes. Rolls of paper stick out from the man's back pocket. The man's upturned top hat is visible underneath the table. A decorative object advertising Stratena and a cup sit on the table. All of the men are depicted with exaggerated features. Van Stan's Stratena was manufcatured in Philadelphia during the late 19th century., Title from item., Advertising text on recto: One drop of dis yere Stratena on de conscience of a politician will make him stick to his principles. One drop on de mariage certificate will prevent de divorce court from separating you from de wife of your bosom. Do you hear me! Gentlemen I am a talking., Gift of David Doret.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Van Stran [P.2017.95.182]
- Title
- James Boyd's fine shoes. Presented by Irving J. Brown
- Description
- Trade card promoting James Boyd's shoes and depicting a racist caricature of an African American man, possibly a peddler, making a presentation on a stage. The man, portrayed with exaggerated features and manners, stands onstage behind a table leaning forward with his knuckles pressed onto the surface. He is attired in a brown suit jacket with tails; waistcoat; white shirt with a white bow tie; gold cuff links; blue pants; and black boots. In his back pocket are rolled up papers. There is a glass on the table. Beneath it is a top hat. In the foreground, four African American men in the audience listen, interact with each other, and gesture. They are attired in jackets (brown, yellow plaid, or green) and white collared shirts. The far left spectator also wears spectacles. The far right spectator raises his hand as if to ask a question. In the background, some brick is exposed through the painted wall, and a white sign is hung advertising "James Boyd's Fine Shoes." James Boyd started manufacturing shoes as Barrow & Boyd in New York in 1866. Barrow retired in 1877. James Boyd continued the business, and in 1884, he added his sons George and William to the firm becoming James Boyd & Sons. Irving J. Brown began selling shoes in 1877. He had stores at 461 and 944 Congress Street, Portland, Maine until at least 1891., Title from item., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: [I]r[vin]g J. Brown. ([?] of the gold boot.) Dealer [i]n boots and shoes, is the special agent for the sale of my goods in Portland. James Boyd, New York City. Highest medals awarded 1873, 1874, 1876, 1877. (Extract from the judges report.) Forty-second exhibition American Institute. "Case no. 49, made by James Boyd, are perfectly put together. We have seen all the shoes made in New York for the past twenty years, and this is the Best [?] in our judgment. The uppers are beautifully [?], and deserve great credit and reward." Elisha Hanshew, E.W. Eaton, C.J. Murray } Judges. [New Yo]rk, Nov. 1873., Gift of David Doret.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Boyd [P.2017.95.16]
- Title
- Look back gentlemen, into the future
- Description
- Racist trade card promoting Frederick A. Rex & Company's Peerless Coffee and depicting a caricature of an African American man peddler standing on a stage. The man, attired in a blue plaid suit with gold buttons, a white shirt with an enormous collar around the neck, and black shoes, is portrayed with an oversized head and exaggerated features. He stands behind a small table on a stage, places his left hand on the table, raises his right hand in the air, and winks his left eye. In the right on the stage is top hat turned upside down with an orange cloth coming of out it. In the left leaning against the table is a green umbrella with a black handle. Frederick A. Rex (1850-1916) founded the Frederick A. Rex Company in the 1880s which manufactured coffee and tea. The firm had an office in Philadelphia and a mill in Camden, N.J., Title from item., Place of publication from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: The Peerless Coffee, finest coffee sold. Always ask your Grocer for this Popular Brand, and you will be sure to have the best. Roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co. 39 North Front St. Philadelphia. Mills, Camden, N.J. Illustration of a square package labeled, "The Peerless Coffee.", Gift of David Doret., Library copy has manuscript inscription on the verso: Emma J. Hottle.
- Date
- [1890]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Fredrick [P.2017.95.65]
- Title
- Brother Gardner addresses the lime kiln club on the virtues of Dixon's Stove Polish
- Description
- Racist, satiric trade card promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a caricature of an African American man presenting Dixon’s Stove Polish to the African American men members of the Lime Kiln Club. Shows Brother Gardner, the white-haired, African American man, in the left with spectacles on his forehead and attired in a white collared shirt with a red bowtie, an orange jacket with a sunflower on the lapel, red and white checked pants, and black shoes. He stands holding a blue box of Dixon’s in his left hand and a gavel in his right hand. In the left is a wooden table with a blue pitcher and a top hat on top of it and a sign that reads, “Dixon’s Carburet of Iron Stove Polish.” Brother Gardner addresses the men in the vernacular, who are identified by number with the key of their names on the verso of the card. In the right, the man, attired in a striped white collared shirt, a red tie, a white and blue striped jacket, yellow and red striped pants, and black shoes, sits on a wooden chair and examines a blue box of Dixon’s in his hands. Beside him another man, balding with tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and a white beard and attired in a red jacket and blue striped pants, kneels down and carries a brush in his right hand. Behind them two men sit on chairs and an additional nine men stand and listen to Brother Gardner. In the background, the wall reads, “Lime Kiln Club, Paradise Hall.” A horseshoe and framed prints that read “Beautify your homes” and “Rules of the Lime Kiln Club” hang on the wall. In the center is a large, black stove., The African American "Lime Kiln Club" caricatures originally were devised by Charles Bertrand Lewis (i.e., M. Quad) in the Detroit Free Press. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, established by Joseph Dixon in Salem, Mass. in 1827, produced graphite pencils, crucibles and stove polish, and relocated to Jersey City, N.J. in 1847. In 1868, the firm name changed from Joseph Dixon & Co. to the Jos. Dixon Crucible Co. In 1870 the firm won a trademark case against a Philadelphia competitor selling J.C. Dixon Stove Polish., Title from item., Date from copyright statment: Copyright 1886., Advertising text printed on verso: The Lime Kiln Club, Brother Gardner in the Chair. “Dis Club hab ebery reason to be proud of de Stove Committee. We has tried all de other stove polishes. We has been stunk out wid so-called peperahuns and seen de piping rust to pieces, till de stove-pipe wus a tumbled down disgrace to de good name of de Lime Kiln Club. De honah of dis occashun belongs to Brudder Shindig, who has made a name for hisself, by introducing Dixon’s Big cake of Stove Polish, and has covered hisself wid shine. Stand up, Brudder Shindig, and let us gaze upon your countenance. Now, my frens, let us draw a lesson from dis: Seek and find out for yerselves, and when you’s got a good ting stick to it, so dat, like DIXON’S STOVE POLISH, you may not only be a use to de community in which yer libes, but a shining example for de rest of mankind. “De club owes a vote of thanks to de Stove Committee, an’ to Brudder Shindig in particular, an’ extend de heartfelt thanks of de Lime Kiln Club to DIXONS for de valuable addition to de comfits of dis life through their CARBURET OF IRON STOVE POLISH. Wid one drawback, Brudder Shindig—you orer haf found dis outen befo’ for de DIXON’S STOVE POLISH has bin in de market SINCE 1827,--58 YEARS.” (Signed) No. 1. Bro. Gardner, 2. Old Man Jenkins, 3. Bro. Shindig, 4. Give-A-Dam Jones, 6. Sundown Davis, No. 7. Accordingly Davis, 8. Stepoff Johnson, 9. Trustee Pullback, 10. Sickles Smith, 11. Sir Isaac Walpole, 12. Layback Jones, Committee., Advertising text printed on verso: Fifty-Eights Years In Market! The Oldest, The Neatest, The Best, The Quickest. Ask your dealer for Dixon’s Stove Polish, Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J. [Includes an depiction of a box of Dixon’s Prepared Carburet of Iron.], Gift of David Doret.
- Date
- 1886
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Jos. Dixon [P.2017.95.94]
- Title
- Clarence Brooks & Co., manufacturers of fine coach varnishes, cor. West & West 12th Sts., New York "ceticism my belobed bredren. It am something beautiful frinstance it am light and airy - like de bean."
- Description
- Trade card employing an African American Oscar Wilde caricature. Wilde toured the United States in 1882. The Wilde figure, wearing long hair and attired in blue knee breeches with red bows, a red jacket with tails, black socks, and gold slippers lectures to an audience of well-attired African American men and women. He stands at a table adorned with a piece of paper, a candle in a bottle, and a water glass containing a sunflower. To his left, an older frowning man sits with an umbrella between his knees on the stage, while in the first row, two women (one wearing a sunflower on her hat) swoon in front of a lanky man, standing, and looking moonfaced. Clarence Brooks established his varnish business in 1859 as Brooks and Fitzgerald, later Clarence Brooks & Co. In 1881 the firm issued a calendar illustrated with African American caricatures in genre scenes., Publication date inferred from image content., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund.
- Date
- [ca. 1882]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Brooks [P.2014.35]
- Title
- [Van Stan's Stratena and Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil trade cards]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards for products produced by Van Stans Stratena Co. in Philadelphia. One racist card entitled, "Great lecture on Van Stan's Stratena by Julius Augustus Cesar at Ethiopian Hall," after the 1878 Sol Eytinge illustration "Blackville, 1878" depicts an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, lecturing on a stage in front of an audience of well-dressed African American men. The lecturer, attired in a brown jacket, a tan waistcoat, a white shirt with gold cuff links, a white bowtie, blue pants, and black shoes, leans on a wooden table labeled "Van Stan's Stratena." Rolls of paper stick out of his back pocket, and his upturned top hat is visible underneath the table. A decorative object advertising Stratena and a cup sit on the table. He speaks in the vernacular, "one drop of dis yere Stratena on de conscience of a politician will make him stick to his principles. One drop on de marriage certificate will prevent de divorce court from separating you from de wife of your bosom. Do you heah me! Gentlemen I am a talking." Other illustrations include a double-sided metamorphic trade card showing white women and children upset when their objects and toys are broken and happy after using Van Stans Stratena to repair them and, on the other side, two white men and a white woman cringing while taking a dose of cod liver oil, but smiling after taking Van Stan's Emulsion of Cod Liver Oil. Card shows two white boys' jackets glued together by Stratena after they sat in it. A white boy standing nearby laughs and says, "Ha! ha! ha! No use boys!!! Been sitting in Van Stan's Stratena. Ha! ha! Ha!!", Another series of illustrations entitled, "Marriage a-la-mode. Matter of money," "Marriage a-la-mode. The result," and "The marriage of the future," depicts a white man and woman couple being wed by a white man standing under a sign reading "License marriage fee. $1.00" and a dog standing behind the groom thinking, "I'll be dog-goned if this is anything more than a matter of cur-ency and my privileges are sure to be cur-tailed. Give him a bone." A subsequent scene shows the husband running away from his wife, two children and chaotic household. His wife runs after him with a frying pan as the toddler in the background cries, "Father dear father come home," and the baby, lying on the floor, cries "No one to love me." The final scene shows a wedding ceremony in the "Tabernacle hearts cemented" with the officiator standing before the bride and groom announcing, "with this Stratena I thee wed." The groom replies, "One consolation, if I ever break her heart, I can mend it with Van Stans Stratena." The bride counters, "I'll stick to him through thick and thin.", Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Chas. Shields' Sons (New York) and E. Ketterlinus & Co. (Philadelphia)., Advertising text printed on versos promotes Van Stan's Emulsion of Pure Norwegian Cod-Liver Oil and Van Stan's Stratena cement to repair glass, china, marble, iron, bone, jewelry, jet, coral, leather, wood, earthenware, porcelain, ornaments, lamp shades, metals, Meerschaum pipes, billiard cues, and leather belting., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., 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. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Van Stan's [1975.F.888-890 & 1975.F.892-894]
- Title
- Brother Gardner addresses the Lime Kiln Club on the virtues of Dixon's Stove Polish
- Description
- Racist, satiric trade card promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a caricature of an African American man presenting Dixon’s Stove Polish to the African American men members of the Lime Kiln Club. Shows Brother Gardner, the white-haired, African American man, in the left with spectacles on his forehead and attired in a white collared shirt with a red bowtie, an orange jacket with a sunflower on the lapel, red and white checked pants, and black shoes. He stands holding a blue box of Dixon’s in his left hand and a gavel in his right hand. In the left is a wooden table with a blue pitcher and a top hat on top of it and a sign that reads, “Dixon’s Carburet of Iron Stove Polish.” Brother Gardner addresses the men in the vernacular, who are identified by number with the key of their names on the verso of the card. In the right, the man, attired in a striped white collared shirt, a red tie, a white and blue striped jacket, yellow and red striped pants, and black shoes, sits on a wooden chair and examines a blue box of Dixon’s in his hands. Beside him another man, balding with tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and a white beard and attired in a red jacket and blue striped pants, kneels down and carries a brush in his right hand. Behind them two men sit on chairs and an additional nine men stand and listen to Brother Gardner. In the background, the wall reads, “Lime Kiln Club, Paradise Hall.” A horseshoe and framed prints that read “Beautify your homes” and “Rules of the Lime Kiln Club” hang on the wall. In the center is a large, black stove., The African American "Lime Kiln Club" caricatures originally were devised by Charles Bertrand Lewis (i.e., M. Quad) in the Detroit Free Press. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, established by Joseph Dixon in Salem, Mass. in 1827, produced graphite pencils, crucibles and stove polish, and relocated to Jersey City, N.J. in 1847. In 1868, the firm name changed from Joseph Dixon & Co. to the Jos. Dixon Crucible Co. In 1870 the firm won a trademark case against a Philadelphia competitor selling J.C. Dixon Stove Polish., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1886., Advertising text printed on verso: The Lime Kiln Club, Brother Gardner in the Chair. “Dis Club hab ebery reason to be proud of de Stove Committee. We has tried all de other stove polishes. We has been stunk out wid so-called peperahuns and seen de piping rust to pieces, till de stove-pipe wus a tumbled down disgrace to de good name of de Lime Kiln Club. De honah of dis occashun belongs to Brudder Shindig, who has made a name for hisself, by introducing Dixon’s Big cake of Stove Polish, and has covered hisself wid shine. Stand up, Brudder Shindig, and let us gaze upon your countenance. Now, my frens, let us draw a lesson from dis: Seek and find out for yerselves, and when you’s got a good ting stick to it, so dat, like DIXON’S STOVE POLISH, you may not only be a use to de community in which yer libes, but a shining example for de rest of mankind. “De club owes a vote of thanks to de Stove Committee, an’ to Brudder Shindig in particular, an’ extend de heartfelt thanks of de Lime Kiln Club to DIXONS for de valuable addition to de comfits of dis life through their CARBURET OF IRON STOVE POLISH. Wid one drawback, Brudder Shindig—you orer haf found dis outen befo’ for de DIXON’S STOVE POLISH has bin in de market SINCE 1827,--58 YEARS.” (Signed) No. 1. Bro. Gardner, 2. Old Man Jenkins, 3. Bro. Shindig, 4. Give-A-Dam Jones, 6. Sundown Davis, No. 7. Accordingly Davis, 8. Stepoff Johnson, 9. Trustee Pullback, 10. Sickles Smith, 11. Sir Isaac Walpole, 12. Layback Jones, Committee., Advertising text printed on verso: Fifty-eight years in market! The oldest, the best, the neatest, the quickest. Ask your dealer for Dixon's Stove Polish. Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J. Illustration showing a box of "Dixon's Prepared Carburet of Iron (Trademark) For Polishing Stoves, Grates, Ranges, and Every Kind of Cast and Sheet Iron work.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- 1886
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *trade card - J [P.2012.54.2]
- Title
- Daniel Webster addressing the United States Senate In the great debate on the compromise measures 1850
- Description
- Commemorative print depicting Daniel Webster's noted "Seventh of March Speech" delivered in support of Henry Clay's proposed legislation to prevent Southern secession and to address the extension of slavery, known as the Compromise of 1850. The amended compromise, passed in September 1850, included the admittance of California as a free state and the strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Law in favor of the South. Shows the U.S. Senate chamber with Webster, in the right, standing with his right hand raised. Each Senator from 1850 is depicted facing toward Webster and the viewer, including Stephen Douglas (to the right of Webster), John C. Calhoun (seated in the left), Vice President Millard Fillmore (presiding at center), Secretary of the Senate Asbury Dickins (below Fillmore), Henry Clay (to the right of Webster’s upraised hand), and Jefferson Davis. White men and women spectators fill the visitors' galleries above. Fillmore and Dickins sit at raised desks, and behind them is a draped curtain. Above the valance is an American flag crest with arrows and a bald eagle with outstretched wings. A framed portrait of George Washington hangs in the center. Also visible is the coffered, domed ceiling and a chandelier., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860 by James M. Edney in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York., Gift of David Doret, 2002., 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
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Slavery [P.2002.2.2]
- Title
- The United States Senate A.D. 1850
- Description
- Proof of commemorative print depicting Henry Clay introducing his legislation known as the Compromise of 1850 to the Senate. The legislation aimed to prevent Southern secession and to address the extension of slavery into the territories. Depicts Clay, at the center of the Senate floor, standing with his right arm out from his side and addressing his fellow legislators that surround him, including Vice-President Millard Fillmore seated on a platform as President of the Senate; Daniel Webster, seated behind him and resting his head in his hand; and John C. Calhoun standing beside the seated Fillmore. The gallery is filled with white men and women spectators., Title from item., Date from copyright statement on copy in the collections of the Library of Congress: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by John M. Butler and Alfred Long, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Text printed on recto: This engraving from the original picture is respectfully dedicated to the people of the United States by the publishers., Key to engraving in collections of the Library of Congress cites other sitters depicted including Thomas H. Benton, Lewis Cass, William H. Seward, William L. Dayton, Stephen A. Douglas, and Salmon P. Chase., Gift of David Doret, 2002., 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
- Whitechurch, Robert, 1814-approximately 1880, engraver
- Date
- [1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***GC - Slavery [P.2002.26]