Arbuckle's ariosa coffee. Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Company, New York. [graphic].
Title
Arbuckle's ariosa coffee. Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Company, New York
Description
One of a series of "fifty" trade cards, "each one of which shows a correct map (properly bounded) of one State, or Territory" to promote Arbuckle's Ariosa Coffee. Depicts a map of Alabama (left) and a scene with African American men and women picking cotton in a cotton field (right). Scene shows a man in the foreground placing cotton in a basket piled high with it. In the center, right background, a woman stands and holds a large basket piled high with cotton on her head. In the distant background, two men and three women bend over and pick cotton from the plants. A piece of harvesting equipment is visible in the far left background. The men and women wear long sleeve shirts and hats or bonnets. Arbuckle's Coffee was founded by brothers John and Charles Arbuckle following the Civil War. The company was one of the first to sell roasted coffee and to place it in one pound packages. Arbuckle often included trade cards in the packages., Title from item., Image captions: Cotton Picking; Population 1,262,[ ]5; Area in Sq. Miles 52,250., Date inferred from content, dates of activity of lithographer, and reference to Washington which gained statehood in 1889 as a territory., Series number printed on verso: No. 67., Several lines of advertising text printed on verso explicating why Arbuckle's Ariosa Coffee "costs more and is worth more than other brands of coffee," including higher grade green coffee and the "glazing" process. Also includes a "Read This." section describing the series of cards as "interesting, instructive, and artistic," and their purpose as and "object lesson or both young and old." Section ends with the alphabetical list of 50 states and territories depicted. Washington, New Mexico, and Wyoming are listed as territories., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022., Some degradation to image.
Date
[ca. 1885]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Arbuckle's [P.2017.44]
Brother Gardner addresses the Lime Kiln Club on the virtues of Dixon's Stove Polish
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]
The celluloid corset clasps side & dress steels.
Title
The celluloid corset clasps side & dress steels Warranted not to rust. Corsets after washing. With the old style clasps in. With the new celluloid clasps in
Description
Trade card advertising celluloid corset clasps and depicting racist caricatures of Chinese men laundry workers comparing celluloid and traditional corsets. In the center, the laundry worker, wearing a queue hairstyle with the braid sticking straight out to the right and attired in gold hoop earrings, a red tunic, white pants, and blue and white cloth, slip-on shoes, smiles as he holds up a clean, white corset with celluloid clasps. In the left, the laundry worker, wearing a mustache and queue hairstyle and attired in a blue tunic, yellow pants, and blue and white cloth, slip-on shoes, holds a soiled and dirty corset as he opens his mouth in dismay looking at the clean corset. In the right background, the Chinese man, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a yellow tunic, blue pants, and white cloth, slip-on shoes, washes laundry with his hands in a steaming washtub. Also visible are a basket of laundry; a corset hanging on a line; and a table with an iron on top of it., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains advertising text printed on verso: Celluloid corset clasps. Side and dress steels. Perspiration proof. Elastic. Durable. In introducing these improved corset clasps, &c., let us call your attention to some of the points of their superiority over all others heretofore in use. 1st.--The inferior is finely tempered clock spring steel. 2d.--The exterior is celluloid. 3d.--The combination of the two unites the strength of the steel with the rust-proof qualities of the celluloid. 4th--The trouble of ripping out and sewing in the steels every time corsets are laundried becomes unnecessary as these steels need not be taken out for that purpose. 5th--They are warranted not to rust and thus stain the corsets or other garments. 6th--They are the best steels in every particular ever offered. Sold by all dry and fancy goods dealers throughout the country., RVCDC, 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 - Celluloid [1975.F.182]
Compliments of J.C. Williams & Son, Central Pharmacy, 50 South Salina St., Syracuse, N.Y.
Title
Compliments of J.C. Williams & Son, Central Pharmacy, 50 South Salina St., Syracuse, N.Y
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards promoting pharmacist J.C. Williams & Son and including "Surrender" depicting a white man winking as he puts his arms around a white woman from behind. The woman, attired in a hat with red feathers, a red dress with a white collar, and black, fingerless gloves, puts her head down as the man grasps her chin with his left hand and puts his right hand on her shoulder. They stand behind a picket fence. Also includes "Retribution" showing a dog chasing a cat and knocking a startled African American man off of his feet near a fence in a yard. The man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a white collared shirt with blue stripes and white pants with blue patches, flies into the air while his white hat falls to the ground., Title from item., Date from copyright statment on one print: Copyrighted 1882 by Onondaga Lith. Co., Syracuse, N.Y. [P.9828.7105]., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., 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. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - W [P.9828.7105 & 7106]
Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner--"I'll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I'll lick de hul firm."
Title
Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner--"I'll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I'll lick de hul firm." Compliments of J. Harley Compton, druggist, New Egypt, N.J
Description
Racist trade card promoting the druggist J. Harley Compton and depicting a caricature of an older African American man reading a notice on a country grocery store. Shows the man with a white beard and attired in a yellow brimmed hat, a long-sleeved red shirt, yellow pants with patches and held up by suspenders, and black shoes. He bends forward to read the sign on the boarded up, dilapidated store. It states in the vernacular that the Johnsing & Skinner Grocery is out of business and that, “Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me--dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing." The African American man is labeled as a creditor who says in the vernacular, “I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.” Another sign on the building states, "10 miles to de post ofice (sic)." In the right, the man’s donkey is tied to an orange post behind him. In the background, fenced in fields and trees are visible. William Carroll purchased J. Harley Compton’s drugstore in New Egypt, New Jersey in 1895., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Johnsing & Skinner Grocery. Notis—De firm of Johnsing & Skinner am resolved. Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me—dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing. Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner—“I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.”, Advertising text printed on verso promotes items manufactured by J. Harley Compton, including Compton's concentrated flavoring extracts, liquid rennet, camphor ice with glycerine, cholera and dysentery drops, and Compton's tooth powder. Dated Oct. 9th, 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., Gift of William Helfand., 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. 1883]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - C [P.9828.5679]
"Creme" oat meal toilet soap.
Title
"Creme" oat meal toilet soap
Description
Trade card promoting soap manufacturer J.D. Larkin & Co. and depicting a racist caricature of an anthropomorphized chimpanzee as a man hunter. He stands in front of a section of tall grass and holds a clutch of birds in his left hand and a rifle under his right arm. He is attired in a hunting cap, red jacket, tan pants, and black high boots. Leather straps are criss-crossed over his chest. J.D. Larkin & Co. was founded in 1875. By 1881 the soap company included over 100 factory workers and sustained specialized departments for advertising and shipping, as well as solicited to door-to-door private residences in addition to shopkeepers. Trade cards with the company logo were included with each box of soap. By 1885 the firm only directly sold their products to residential customers and was known for their premiums. The company was sold in 1941 and continued as a mail-order business until 1962., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright, Clay & Richmond, Buffalo, N.Y., 1881., Printed in upper right corner on recto: J, D, L, & C. monogram (ie. J.D. Larkin & Co.) surmounting "Buffalo, N.Y.", Series no. printed on recto: II., Advertising text printed on verso promotes "Creme" toilet soap sold by A.E. Snow, dealer in drugs, medicines, etc. in Plainfield, Vt. Also promotes "six different designs" of cards by the People's Mfg. Co., Buffalo, N.Y., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William H. Helfand., 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
1881
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - S [P.9828.6852]
"Creme" oat meal toilet soap. [graphic]
Title
" Creme" oat meal toilet soap
Description
Incomplete series of trade cards, including duplicate and variant imagery with the same series number, to promote "Crème" toilet soap manufactured by J.D. Larkin & Co. Depicts racist, anthropomorphic chimpanzee figures in social situations and leisure and cultural activities., Series no. I (variant 1) depicts a man and woman as well-dressed anthropomorphized chimpanzees greeting each other. In the left, the man attired in a black top hat, blue jacket, and checkered yellow pants, nods his head to the left and holds up his walking stick. In the right, the woman, her back to the viewer, is attired in a yellow bonnet adorned with flowers and a ribbon, and a long-sleeved green dress with a pink belt at the waist and a bow at the bustle. She lifts up her skirt and exposes her slip. Series no. I (variant 2) depicts an anthropomorphized chimpanzee as a man artist. He rests back on his chair, and holds a palette in one hand, and a paint brush in the other. He sits in front of an easel and canvas. He is attired in a green-colored smock shirt with collar and buttons, yellow pants, and brown laced shoes. His eyelids droop down and his mouth is slightly ajar., Series no. II depicts an anthropomorphized chimpanzee as a man hunter. He stands in front of a section of tall grass and holds a clutch of birds in his left hand and a shot gun under his right arm. He is attired in a hunting cap, red jacket, tan pants, and black high boots. Leather straps are criss-crossed over his chest. Series no. III depicts an anthropomorphized chimpanzee as a man fishing at a dock. The man hangs his legs over a pier and holds a pole into the water. A basket of fish lays beside him. He wears a wide-brimmed hat, a brown jacket with the collar turned up, and blue checkered pants. The backs of two other anglers are visible in the left background. Series no. IV (2 copies) depicts anthropomorphized chimpanzees as a man and woman couple on promenade. The woman, in the left, is attired in a yellow bonnet, a yellow, three-quarter length sleeved dress with ruffling down the front and ruching on the skirt, and white gloves. She holds a fan by her left cheek, looks to her left, and lifts up the skirt of her dress and shows the edge of her slip. To the right, the man smiles and looks over her shoulder. He is attired in a bowler, red jacket, and grey-striped pants and holds a walking stick up under his arm., Series no. VI depicts anthropomorphized chimpanzees as a man and woman couple getting married by a clergyman. The couple, their backs to the viewer, stand to the left of the clergyman attired in his ceremonial robes. The man wears a suit with a long jacket. The woman wears a white wedding dress with a veil adorned with floral ornaments. The dress is composed with ruched sleeves, and adorned with pink bows and ribbons. The figures all have solemn expressions. J.D. Larkin & Co. was founded in 1875. By 1881 the soap company included over 100 factory workers and sustained specialized departments for advertising and shipping, as well as solicited to door-to-door private residences in addition to shopkeepers. Trade cards with the company logo were included with each box of soap. By 1885 the firm only directly sold their products to residential customers and was known for their premiums. The company was sold in 1941 and continued as a mail-order business until 1962., Title from items., Date, publisher, and manufacturer (printer) from copyright statements on prints: Copyright J.D. Larkin & Co., Buffalo, N.Y. 1881 and Copyright Clay & Richmond, Buffalo, N.Y. 1881., Majority of prints (P.2020.3.1-4&7) distributed by J.D. Larkin & Co., P.2020.3.5&6 distributed by the People’s Manufacturing Co., Prints include the company logo “J.D. L. & Co., Buffalo, N.Y.” in two designs; one in cursive and the other as a monogram with a central block letter., Includes series numbers: I. (2 variant images); II.; III.; V. (2 copies, same image); and VI., Five of the prints contain variant advertising text on verso. All texts include statement: To Card Collectors.- There are six different designs in this set. We will mail the complete set to any address, on receipt of 3 c./three cent stamp., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date
1881
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Larkin [P.2020.3.1-7]
Day's soap does it. [graphic] : Washee, washee, see him rub on his washboard in the tub; see him wash and smile with glee for he's from hard labor free; with Day's soap his work is done when his rivals just begun. / Avil & Co. lith.
Title
Day's soap does it Washee, washee, see him rub on his washboard in the tub; see him wash and smile with glee for he's from hard labor free; with Day's soap his work is done when his rivals just begun
Description
Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyrighted 1887 by Day & Frick., Racist metamorphic trade card showing a caricaturized Chinese man laundry worker washing a sheet on a wash board in a washtub. Includes a tab that when pulled lifts the washer's arms up and down to reveal the text "Day Soap" on the wash board. The man wears his hair in a queue and is attired in a long-sleeved, blue collared shirt with buttons down the front, blue pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes. He smiles and looks to the right. The tub rests on a table beside a bar of soap, labeled “Day’s Soap.” On the ground behind the table is a basket of laundry. Sheets hang on a drying line. In the background, the wall has Chinese-stylized decorations including a gold wallpaper depicting birds and fish and a purple and gold wall hanging that reads, “Day’s Soap.” Peter Day founded the Day & Frick soap manufactory firm in 1886. He retired as president of the firm in 1917., Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, John D. Avil founded the Avil Printing Company (also known as John D. Avil & Co.) in West Philadelphia and managed it from the early 1860s until his death in 1918.
Date
[1887]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Day's [P.2012.62.8]
Dixon's carburet of iron stove polish.
Title
Dixon's carburet of iron stove polish
Description
Series of trade cards promoting Joseph Dixon Crucible Company's stove polish and depicting a racist caricature of an African American woman nanny at work. Shows the nanny smiling, holding, and scrubbing an unclothed white girl, who is coated in black stove polish along her right side. The long, brown haired girl wears a red headband and is partially covered by a white cloth draped around by the nanny. The nanny uses a scrub brush under the right arm of the girl. The girl stands, her right leg raised, upon a table covered with a yellow tablecloth and stained by the polish. She looks down and touches the nanny's face with her right hand. She places her left hand over the woman's hand on her left side. The nanny is attired in a white head kerchief with red polka dots; a yellow short-sleeved shirt with red stripes; and a blue skirt. On the table is a plate; a brush; and boxes labeled Dixon's Stove Polish. Image also includes, in the left background, a stove with a steaming copper kettle and a partial view of a stove pipe and checkered flooring. 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, Printers and engravers include Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co. (New York) and A. Gast & Co. (New York and St. Louis)., Advertising text printed on verso: Advertising text printed on verso: Established 1827. Dixon's stove polish; over fifty years in the market. Neat; quick; brilliant, and lasting. No dust. No odor. Nothing will make a stove so bright and cheerful for so long a time as the Dixon stove polish. It is by far the cheapest in use, in the long run. Buy it. Try it. Take no other. Pressed into a neat quarter-pound packet, absolutely free of adulteration. Six millions sold in 1880. Jos. Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City, N.J., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883. Purchase 1998., 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 - Dixon [1975.F.235; P.9577.14; P.9599]
The eureka poisoned fly-plate will kill every fly in the house.
Title
The eureka poisoned fly-plate will kill every fly in the house
Description
Trade card promoting Eureka Fly Plate Co. and depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, observing the fly plate kill a swarm of flies. The man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red jacket, and blue pants, stands holding a broom, which he uses to sweep dead flies from the table in the left. On the table is the fly plate that fills with flies. Above the table is a window., Title from item., 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. 1885]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Eureka [1975.F.294]
F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St.
Title
F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St Opening days, November 1st and 2d, 1881
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards promoting F. Pulaski & Co., a fancy goods store at 1026 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a white woman pulling on her red stockings as her pet cat rubs his head against her foot and the same woman attired in a brown coat, a pink hat, blue stockings and white shoes, leaving her home with her cat trailing her. Also includes two related scenes showing a white woman standing with her head lowered before her surprised white husband with black soot on her face and clothing. In the subsequent scene, the husband is fighting with a Black man. In the right, the white man's brown cap flies off his head and white flour is dispersed through the air. In the left, the Black man's brown, brimmed hat falls to the ground as he grabs his hands around the white man's head with his right leg lifted up. F. Pulaski & Co., initially a partnership between Frank Pulaski and M.L. Kline when these trade cards were created, later specialized in pictures and picture frames., Title from item., Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.714]: "En voyant sa femme changée de couleur, Pétrin qui a mauvais caractère, devine tout de suite que Charabia lui a fait une niche. Il a son plan.", Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.718]: "Comme ils se sont promis de faire suer: Charabia, de la farine à chon ami Pétrin, et Pétrin du charbon a Charabia, ils se tiennent parole.", 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
1881
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Pulaski [1975.F.714; 1975.F.718; 1975.F.764 & 1975.F.871]
[Frederick A. Rex & Co. trade cards]
Title
[Frederick A. Rex & Co. trade cards]
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards promoting coffee manufacturer Frederick A. Rex & Co. and depicting a fox leaping to grab grapes in its mouth from a vine running along the top of a tall stone wall. Racist trade card titled "An absorbing subject" and depicting a caricature an African American man lying on top of a barrel and drinking from it with a straw. Shows the barefooted man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a straw hat, a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and patched and torn pants. He lies straddling on top of a wooden barrel and rests his head in his hands. He closes his eyes as he drinks from a straw through a hole in the barrel. The barrel has a label pasted on it and is marked “XXX.” In the foreground, a painter’s palette leans against the front of the barrel. 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 supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9651.20] copyrighted 1881 by Geo. M. Hayes., One print [P.9651.20] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting "Peerless Coffee," the finest coffee sold, roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co., 39 North Front St., Philadelphia, with mills in Camden, New Jersey., Purchase 1999, 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. 1881]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Rex [P.9651.20 & P.9984.2]
[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]
[Hunter's handsome drug stores, cor. Pacific & New Jersey Aves., cor. Atlantic & Indiana Aves., Atlantic City, N.J. and cor. Fifteenth and Wharton Sts., Philadelphia]
Title
[Hunter's handsome drug stores, cor. Pacific & New Jersey Aves., cor. Atlantic & Indiana Aves., Atlantic City, N.J. and cor. Fifteenth and Wharton Sts., Philadelphia]
Description
Series of illustrated trade cards promoting Hunter's Drug Stores, and depicting white boys bowling, a large fish in a pond surrounded by flowers, and men and women laboring outside, including a white man and woman couple fetching water from a well, a white woman standing in a field carrying a staff, and a white woman watering flowers with smiling, human faces in a garden as a cupid figure with wings watches her from the other side of a fence. Two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature, haul large bundles of wheat past a milestone labeled "M. 10." In the left, the barefooted man is attired in a tunic, and in the right, the man is attired in a hat, a tunic, and shoes., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9828.6173] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting the purity, quality and accuracy of Hunter's drugs and lists items available for sale at his drugstores., Date from copyright statement on six prints [P.9828.6175-6180]: Copyright 1882 by Ed. Wolf., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand., 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. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helfand Patent Medicine Trade Card Collection - Pharmacists - H [P.9828.6173-6180]
[J. & P. Coat's thread trade cards]
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]
L. S. Plaut & Co., 715, 717, 719 Broad St., Newark, N. J.
Title
L. S. Plaut & Co., 715, 717, 719 Broad St., Newark, N. J
Description
Trade card for L. S. Plaut & Co.'s boys' clothing department depicting African American children, portrayed in racist caricature, sledding. Shows ten African American children, attired in short-sleeved pajamas, in a toboggan sledding down a snow-covered slope. One child plays a horn. The child at the back holds on with their leg outside the toboggan. White spectators watch from the side of the incline, and other toboggans are seen in the distance at the top of the slope. L. S. Plaut & Co., established as "The Bee Hive" in 1870 by Leopold Fox and L. Simon Plaut, was a premier department store in Newark, N.J. The firm tenanted 715-719 Broad Street by the 1880s., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1887 by The Bufford's Sons Lith. Co., Printed lower right corner: 794., Stamped on recto: Harvey Cooley., Advertising text on verso: The Largest in the State. The Bee Hive Boy's Clothing Department. See our values in Short Pant Suits, at $2.48, $3.48 and $4.98. See our values in Short Pants, at 49c., 62c., and 98c. See our values in Overcoats, at $2.23, $3.48, and $4.98. Men's Shoes, Fine-Make Goods, all at Very Low Prices. Text accompanied by illustration showing a white boy attired in a cap, overcoat, pants, and boots., Duplicate image of: trade cards - R [P.2011.42.1], 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
1887
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Plaut [113418.D]
No more Chinese cheap labor. Celluloid cuffs, collars & bosoms. [graphic].
Title
No more Chinese cheap labor. Celluloid cuffs, collars & bosoms
Description
Trade card containing an illustration depicting a racist scene with the figures of Uncle Sam and America, and a Chinese man laundry worker. In the left, the laundry worker, wearing his hair in a queue and attired in a long-sleeved, orange tunic; long, wide-legged, white pants; and orange slip-on, cloth shoes; sits on an over-turned wooden wash tub. His eyes are closed, and he holds his head down in his left hand. His left leg is crossed over his right, and his right hand is on his left ankle. To his left, the white woman figure of Columbia/America, looks down at the laundry worker and points up with her right hand. In her left hand, she holds up a shield with the pattern of the American flag and marked "Invention." She wears her dark hair pulled back to the nape of her neck and is attired in a gown with the pattern of the American flag, a red and blue cap adorned with a white star, and sandals. An open box of spilled starch lies between her feet and those of the laundry worker. Behind the laundry worker, is a laundry iron on a shelf, Chinese characters written on a wall, and Uncle Sam resting his arms on the ledge of an opening in the wall. Uncle Sam has red hair and a beard and is attired in a top hat, a blue jacket with a white star pattern, a red neck tie, and white shirt with the collar turned up. He looks at America. Above his head is the sign "Gon Up Chinese Laundry." Patented during the 1860s and 70s, separable celluloid collars, unlike separable paper collars, were waterproof and longer lasting, as well as fashionable and affordable. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the celluloid collar industry leveraged the racist legislation to promote the use of celluloid collars as patriotic and as a means to make Chinese launderers obsolete and to facilitate the end of Chinese immigration., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Includes advertising text printed on verso: A New Improvement-Patented. Waterproof Linen. Waterproof-Elastic-Durable. Ladies' & Gents' Cuffs Collars, [Bossa]ms, Made From Celluloid. In Introducing this new invention [italicized], we beg to call the attention of the public to some of the remarkable features of this "new departure," [italicized], which will commend the use of these goods to all who study economy, neatness, and beauty [italicized]. 1st. The Interior is Fine Linen. 2d. The Exterior is Celluloid. 3d. The Union of Above, Combines the Strength of Linen With The Waterproof Qualities of Celluloid. 4th. The Expense of Washing Is Saved. If The Goods Are Soiled Simply Wipe Them Off With Soap And Water. 5th. The Goods Never Wilt Or Fray On Edges. 6th. They Are Perspiration Proof. For Sale by All Gents' Furnishing & Fancy Goods Houses throughout the Country., Image caption: "Othello's occupation gone." The Hand Writing on the Wall., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC
Date
[ca. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Celluloid [P.2021.20.1]
Photographing the Baby
Title
Photographing the baby
Description
Trade card after an 1870 Sol Eytinge Harper's Weekly illustration with white figures depicting a racist, caricaturized genre scene to promote the coach varnish firm Clarence Brooks & Co. Scene shows a white photographer taking the portrait of an African American toddler in hi studio. The African American figures are portrayed with caricatured and exagerrated features. In the right, the white photographer stands next to his camera and tripod. He holds a cloth in his right hand, at his side, and a yellow-colored, monkey-like string puppet in his raised left hand. He wears a beard and is attired in a long brown jacket and blue striped pants. Between him and his young sitter is a framed advertisement above maroon paneling on an olive-colored wall. The advertisement reads: "Clarence Brooks & Co., Fine Coach Varnishes, Cor. West & West 12th Sts." In the left, the African American girl sits stiffly on a plush, green arm chair. Her eyes are opened wide in a surprised expression. She wears a sleeveless pink dress with blue bows at the shoulders. Behind her, in the doorway, are two African American women. The younger woman, likely to be perceived as the girl's mother, peers around from the left of the doorway. She wears a stylish hat, white blouse, and red bow at her neck. An older woman, likely to be perceived as the girl's grandmother, stands in the right of the doorway. She wears a brown-colored bonnet with a large bow around her chin and a brown-colored dress and shawl. Clarence Brooks established his varnish business in 1859 as Brooks and Fitzgerald, later Clarence Brooks & Co. In the early 1880s the firm issued calendars illustrated with African American caricatures in genre scenes, often after Sol Eytinge Harper's Weekly illustrations., Title from item., Publication date inferred from dates of activity of publisher (1888-1892) as cited in Jay Last, The Color Explosion (Santa Ana: Hillcrest Press, 2005)., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015)., Housed with the Emily Phillips Advertising Card Collection., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator
National Bank Note Co.
Date
[ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Brooks [P.2016.17.1]
[Scrapbook with periodical illustrations, comic valentines, and patent medicine advertisements]
Title
[Scrapbook with periodical illustrations, comic valentines, and patent medicine advertisements]
Description
Eccentrically-arranged scrapbook predominantly containing newspaper clippings, patent medicine almanac advertisements, and comic valentines. Also contains scraps, trade cards, and labels. Clippings, many published in the sensational periodicals “National Police Gazette” and “Days’ Doings” primarily depict illustrations of murders and violence, crimes and punishments, human curiosities, animal attacks, human peril, women in distress, gender non-conforming people, evocative theatrical performances, acts of daring, and comic scenes in silhouette. Illustrations include H. P. Peer's 1879 jump from the Niagara Falls bridge and a fight between the elephant "Bolivar" and a camel in Van Amburgh's menagerie. Patent medicine advertisements primarily promote the products of Barker’s Horse, Cattle, and Poultry Powder; C. I. Hood’s Sarsaparilla; Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pill; and E. S. Well's Rough on Rats. Valentines satirize various professions and gender and ethnic stereotypes, including a cook, music teacher, machinist, hatter, seamstress, “French nurse –(from Ireland),” “novel reader,” “prudish young woman,” and “an old bore.”, Also contains some sentimental and genre imagery, including mothers and children, children playing, and pets; landscape and cityscape illustrations; racist caricatures of African Americans; Tobin trade cards depicting comical views of baseball players (p. 21); an advertisement for The Electric Era/ German Electric Belt Agency (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Dalziel Brother illustrations of scenes from popular Charles Dickens novels like “Nicholas Nickleby”; chromoxylograph illustration from Aunt Matilda series “The Little Deserter” (McLoughlin Bros., ca. 1869); illustrated children's book covers; and a finely-designed chromolithographic advertisement depicting allegorical figures, flowers, and produce to promote gardens (Lowell, Mass.)., Title supplied by cataloger., Small number of pages contain hand-coloring., Also originally included tucked-in partial editions of N.Y. newspapers issued in 1890. Issues housed in mylar and with scrapbook., Scrap depicting two racing horses and their jockeys pasted on back cover., Housed in phase box., Purchase 2012., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1869-ca. 1890, bulk 1880-1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2012.42]
The Universal clothes wringer. What Dina, six o'clock and not done yet! And look at these torn clothes. Oh mistis de wringing am awful, always tear de clothes 'spect dat I neber get through
Title
The Universal clothes wringer
Description
Metamorphic trade card promoting the American Wringer Company's Universal Wringer. Depicts a racist "before and after" scene with and without the product. The before scene shows an African American laundress "Dinah" wringing clothes by hand over a tub. She states in vernacular speech that "de wringing am awful." A white woman chastises her to "look at these torn clothes." She holds up a square shaped cloth with tears. A clock is visible in the background. The women are shown as bust-length. Dinah wears a kerchief, an open collared shirt, and her sleeves are rolled up. The after scene shows a smiling "Dinah," wringing laundry with a "Universal" clothes wringer under the happy gaze of her employer. The women reach a hand out to one another. Dinah wears a high ruffled collar shirtwaist with a bow at her neck, long sleeves, an apron, and kerchief. A clock rests on a sideboard in the background. The American Wringer Company was established about 1861 and operated until at least the early 20th century. The company often provided a clock as a premium to purchase their laundry equipment., Title from item., Date inferred from attire of figures depicted., Text printed on recto: Oh mistis de wringing am awful, always tear de clothes 'spect dat I neber get through. What Dinah, six o'clock and not done yet! And look at these torn clothes. "What Dinah! Finished washing so soon! Why it's only three o'clock." "Hi golly! Mistis, been done dese two hours dis chile hab no more trouble, since you done got dis wringer. Neber tear de clothes neder., Advertising text on verso: The Universal Wringer Has the Following Points of Superiority. 1. Rolls of Solid White Rubber. 2. Rowell's Double Cog-wheels. 3. Two Independent Pressure Screws. 4. Double cogs at both ends of each Roll. 5. Folding Apron or Clothes Guide. 6. Rocking Springs of wood and rubber. N. P. Baker, Dealer in General Merchandise, Sunapee, N. H., 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
[ca. 1885]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - American [113420.D]
Use Merrick's thread. "Gully this cotton beats 'em all!" [graphic].
Title
Use Merrick's thread. "Gully this cotton beats 'em all!"
Description
Racist trade card promoting Merrick thread and depicting a domestic scene of an older African American man sewing. Shows the man, in a cabin setting, seated atop a stool, his feet slightly turned in, and mending the seat of a pair of blue pants. The man holds the pants in his left hand and pulls a needle and thread through a patch on the pants in his right. The thread comes from a large spool beside the man which is marked with "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8" logo. Behind the man is a window with a sill, which is lined with potted plants. A candle holder rests on a shelf attached to the wall below the window. The man is attired in a red button-down shirt, blue suspenders, brown pants, and brown shoes. Merrick Thread Co. was founded in 1865 by Timothy Merrick, Austin Merrick, and Origen Hall in Mansfield, Connecticut. After its founding, the company established mills in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1898, the company merged with thirteen other independent thread and yarn manufacturers to form the American Thread Company., Title from item., Date inferred from content and genre of print., Advertising text printed on verso: Buy Merrick Thread Co's best six cord soft finish spool cotton for machine & hand sewing warranted 200 yds. also these threads are made from the finest quality of combed sea island cotton, and for strength, evenness, elasticity and smoothness surpass anything in the market. By the use of the "ready wound bobbins" the annoyance of winding the iron bobbin is done away with, and a more perfect stitch obtained. When in want of more thread, don't fail to ask for Merrick's., See related copy: Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.122], Gift of George Allen, 2022., RVCDC
Date
[ca. 1885]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade cards - M - Merrick [P.2022.42.10]
Who's dar? [graphic].
Title
Who's dar?
Description
Trade card depicting a racist, comic, genre scene to promote the Co-operative Dress Association established by journalist and lecturer Kate Fields in 1881. Shows an older African American boy, portrayed with large eyes, nose, lips, and ears, in a hive eating honey comb as a bear enters from behind him. The boy, attired in a collared red shirt with the sleeves rolled up and blue pants rolled to the knees, sits, left knee up and right leg out, on a mound and to the left of a stack of comb. He smiles and raises a piece of comb toward his mouth. Above him and to the right, the rear end of a bear in a hole in the hive is visible. The Co-operative Dress Association, incorporated in April 1881 with 5000 stockholders, was established to provide clothing "articles of fine quality at fair prices" without the "inducement for illegitimate gain" to women of limited incomes. The cooperative, its necessity criticized by advocates for the New York City retail dry-goods trade, operated until 1882-1883 when placed under receivership., Title from item., Date inferred from active dates of co-operative., Series number printed on recto in lower right corner: 24., Copyright statement printed on recto: Copyrighted., Advertising text printed on verso: Open To Everybody. Everybody Invited. Anybody Can Buy. Co-Operative Dress Association (Limited), 31 and 33 West 23d Street, New York. Dry Goods of All Kinds. House-Keeping Goods. Ready-Made Dresses, Cloaks and Wraps, At All Prices. Ladies', Children's and Boys' Suits. Upholstery, Millinery, Stationery, China, Glass and Plated Ware. Boots, Shoes, and Hair Goods. Visit every floor in the Six-Story Building. Restaurant on 5th Floor. Holiday Goods. Fancy Goods., Housed with the Emily Phillips Trade Card Collection., Anonymous gift., RVCDC, Description and access points reviewed 2022.
Date
[ca. 1881]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Cooperative [P.2020.23]
Your home is not complete without the Missouri Steam Washer. The best washing machine in the world. Johnston Bro's. St. Louis. Philadelphia.
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]