Dey's de irons to make de angels' robes white and smooth in de colored folk's heaven. [graphic].
Title
Dey's de irons to make de angels' robes white and smooth in de colored folk's heaven
Description
Racist trade card illustration promoting Mrs. Potts' Cold Handle Sad Iron and depicting three African American winged angels. In the foreground is an African American woman attired in a white headwrap, along-sleeved white dress, and white flat shoes. She stands with her arms wide and holds irons in both hands. In the left is a smaller boy angel who stands with his hands on his hips and in the right is an identically posed girl angel. All three figures are depicted with exaggerated figures. A box of text is superimposed over the woman angel's torso. Three irons are depicted on verso along with a disembodied hand demonstrating the detachable handle., Title from item., Advertising text printed on verso: Mrs. Potts' Cold Handle Sad Iron. Advantages: A cold detachange walnut handle, are lined with nonconducting cement. Heat quicker than other irons. Retain the heat longer. Require no holder or cloth. Do not burn the hand. Are double pointed, iron both ways, the best in use, cheap., Distributor's imprint printed on verso: Smith, Seltzer & Co., Sixth & Market Sts, Philadelphia, PA., Gift of David Doret.
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Mrs. Potts [P.2017.95.135]
Merrick Thread Co. "Fooled dis time, cully. Dis cotton ain't gwine to break." [graphic].
Title
Merrick Thread Co. "Fooled dis time, cully. Dis cotton ain't gwine to break."
Description
Racist trade card depicting a smiling African American boy portrayed as fishing bait for an alligator in a swamp. Shows the boy suspended from a tree limb over the gaping jaws of the head of the reptile jutting out from the body of water below him. The boy is held up by a hook in the seat of his pants that is attached to white thread wrapped around the tree limb and from a large spool that floats in the water. The spool bears the Merrick Thread Co. logo. The boy holds the fishing line of thread and fishing rod in his hands and by his face. He is barefooted and attired in a blue hat, a red shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a white vest, and blue pants with a patch on the right knee. The boy is depicted with exaggerated features. Print also contains an image on verso depicting a partially opened box of several spools of thread, on which the thread company's tagline "Merrick Thread Co's Ready Wound Bobbins for Sewing Machines Warranted 200 Yards" is printed. 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. The distributor of the thread, Isaac J.H. Bordner, owned a store which was built in 1881 and located in the Mount Aetna neighborhood of Tulpehocken Township in Pennsylvania. In addition to being a businessman, Bordner was served as the local postmaster between 1870 and 1899., 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., Distributor's imprint printed on verso: Isaac J.H. Bordner, Dealer in General Merchandise, Mt. Aetna, Berks Co., Pa.
Date
[ca. 1885]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.120]
[Specimens album loose prints collection]
Title
[Specimens album loose prints collection]
Description
Collection of loose prints from a specimen album probably compiled by a printer once associated with the Philadelphia lithographic firm Stein and Jones. Contains chromolithographic art supplements and advertising specimens; proof sheets; checks, bank notes billheads, and receipts; trade cards and labels; vignette specimens; proof sheets; and illustrations. Businesses and trades represented include banks, manufacturers, and the textile industry. Collection also includes a proof of a trade catalog for gas pipe fittings; job work, including an 1877 broadside for an "Assessor's Registry of Voters" of a Philadelphia ward; an advertising print for the Walnut Street House (Cincinnati, Oh.); and a sheet music cover containing a landscape view., Title supplied by cataloger., Various printers, including Simeon Boerum; Ehrgott, Fobriger & Co.; Geo. S. Harris & Sons; J. Ottmann; and Wm. F. Murphy Sons., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date
[ca. 1860-ca. 1898]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.9349.275-472]