An Article on Victorian era Antique Advertising Trade Cards
by Debra Clifford, Town Historian of Ancestorville

The 1876 Centennial World's Fair was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was an amazing event celebrating new patents and inventions, printing methods and an excitement 10 years after the dark Civil War period and reconstruction era of American history. Color printing was new and technically reaching new heights, and beautifully chromolithographed trade cards became a new genre of spreading the marketing word.

Incredulous claims were used in the effort to sell wares, quack medicine, homeopathics, patent medicines, stoves, farm equipment, soaps, machinery, fabrics, toys, games, seeds, foods, books, and products. Services such as lawyers, physicians, dentists, opticians, photographers, and optometrists were also in on the hoopla. You name it...all aspects of American products and service life were covered by the trade card phenomena.

The marketing testimonial from the Gargling Oil card above reads "Merchant`s Gargling Oil is the standard liniment of the United States, and is good for Burns, Scalds, Rheumatism, Flesh Wounds, Sprains, Bruises, Lame Back, Hemorrhoids or Piles, Toothache, Sore Throat, Chillbains, Chapped Hands and many other diseases incident to man and beast." How's that for grandiose advertising? This product was to be used for both man and beast, doubling as a veterinary and medical product, something you would never find in today's world.

Here at ancestorville, we have for sale over 350 Victorian era advertising related trade cards and related material on our site, all searchable by surname and county, and noted where they were found. You may buy the actual product, or a digital image. They range from the ornate chromolitho trade cards to simply typography in beautiful old printed script with no printed scenes, as evident in the business card seen below.

We have a special interest in finding material related to 19th c. women run businesses, which you will find doing a category search for "women" at ancestorville on our category search page. Here we find women photographers, millinery and sewing related businesses and their participation in the sewing trades. Women performers, such vaudevillie and opera singers were also famous in their own right, with their images suddenly being used for selling products. It was the dawn of the Advertising age in America .

Trade cards offer an invaluable look at the genealogy of local family run businesses, town histories, trade and culture of the times, customs, graphics, marketing and overall advertising history. Each vintage piece offers an important clue as to surname, and lost family ties. We have had family members find that their ancestors were in the photography business, or grocers, dry goods store owners and etc. in America's small towns, having had no idea of this business history in their family's past. With census records and town histories becoming more and more evident online each week, it's an exciting time to find out just what trades our ancestors embarked upon in the industrious post Civil War reconstruction boom of 19th c. America, and abroad.

Smith & Titus: 1890-1910 Business Card of 2 Worcester Attorneys, MA
Beautiful early American typography from Massachusetts.
Search for this lost Smith & Titus family item at Ancestorville.

Trade cards themes can be risque with those leaning more towards "men's" trades, some have maps with directions to the business location, puzzles, children, flowers, beautiful women, patriotic scenes with eagles; flags and historical items; novelty scenes and jokes, animals, lace and Victorian icons such as a gloved or laced hand with flowers, stone urns, japanesque influences, ethnic racist scenes, western native American scenes, boats, clipper ships and nautical themes, birds in cages, and delicate "high class" Victorian era embellishments.

Some cards are exactly modeled after the Victorian calling card in small size and format, meant to be slipped in a calling card receiver and further the local business in social circles.

The trade card is directly related to the business card. It was most popular from the late 1870’s to 1900 in America, although it has roots back to the 1600's in Europe. Most of the cards at Ancestorville are American, and are circa 1880's-1900. We you will find everything from early plain typography cards, to intricate Victorian stone chromolithographic work.

The size of an advertising trade card is typically about 3 x 5 inches, although we have seen them in upwards of 8 x 10 inches in size. They are both horizontal and vertical in nature. They were collected by both the young and old, and glued into early Victorian scrapbooks, which became a hugely popular fad in America, England and Europe. It is for this reason that many show evidence of mucilage and animal glues on the reverse, although some were also mounted in scrap books with corner paper frames. As the advent of color printing gained favor, the cards become more and more sophisticated in all regards.

c. 1880-90's Advertising Stock Trade Card for Morgan &
Porter Bakers and Grocers, IN
South Bend, Indiana, is in Saint Joseph County (St. Joesph). This is an example of an advertising "stock card", as the family business name is printed in a specified blank area. Search for this lost Morgan & Porter family item at Ancestorville.