Victorian Era Tailors' Trade Cards, ca. 1890s Lithograph on paper, various sizes & formats (4)
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Victorian Era Tailors' Trade Cards, ca. 1890s
Lithograph on paper, various sizes & formats (4)
A group of 4 interesting original trade cards advertising the services of tailors. Two cards advertising Nicoll the Tailor of New York show an amusing scene of a soldier firing the cork of an oversized champagne bottle at a man in a fez and two similar soldiers exchanging greetings on the street; a card advertising Gemmill, Burnham & Co. of Hartford shows an organ-grinder with his monkey; a card advertising Conrad Schirra of Buffalo depicts a young woman holding a sprig of flowers. In very fine condition overall. 3.75 x 2.5 inches (9.7 x 6.4 cm) and 3.25 x 5 inches (8.3 x 12.8 cm).
Victorian trade cards are an early form of collectible advertising. Popularized after the Civil War by businesses, they offer a colorful and diverse look at popular culture and society in the late 1800s.
Trade cards originated in England in the 1700s with tradesmen advertising their wares. But the advent of lithography in the 1870s made it possible to mass-produce them in color, leading to a golden age from 1876 to the early 1900s when halftone printed newspaper and magazine ads became more economical.
Trade cards originated in England in the 1700s with tradesmen advertising their wares. But the advent of lithography in the 1870s made it possible to mass-produce them in color, leading to a golden age from 1876 to the early 1900s when halftone printed newspaper and magazine ads became more economical.