Brief History of Trade Cards
Over a century ago, during the Victorian era, one of the favorite
pastimes was collecting small, illustrated advertising cards that we
now call trade cards. These trade cards evolved from cards of the
late 1700s used by tradesmen to advertise their services. Although
examples from the early 1800s exist, it was not until the spread of
color lithography in the 1870s that trade cards became plentiful.By the 1880s, trade cards had become a major way of advertising America's products and services, and a trip to the store usually brought back some of these attractive, brightly-colored cards to be pasted into a scrapbook. Some of the products most heavily advertised by trade cards were in the categories of: medicine, food, tobacco, clothing, household, sewing, stoves, and farm.
 Willimantic Spool Cotton Front view of trade card
Although trade card collecting began over 100 years ago, today's strong interest in trade cards began relatively recently. Trade cards that were bought for ten cents thirty years ago frequently bring ten dollars or more in today's market--and some have even sold for over a thousand dollars. Related sites: Trade Card Collector's Association The Cartophilic Society of Great Britain About the Author: Ben Crane specializes in Victorian Trade Cards. Please visit his site,The Trade Card Place for more articles, resources, auctions and his trade card catalog.
Related Articles |
