Object of the Day: "The Sweet Summer Days"

While many trade cards were produced specifically for a certain company with custom text and especially commissioned images, the majority of them were actually stock cards with generic, pleasing designs and pictures which could be printed either on the front or reverse (or both) to customize them.

Every so often, I’ll come across one of these stock cards which was never printed with a company’s information.

This one inscribed “The Sweet Summer Days” shows a scene of a well-dressed young lady reclining on a hammock as her puppy looks on.  In the distance, a man tips his boater hat.  He’s carrying oars and seems to be suggesting that the woman join him on a little boat ride. 

Though slightly cartoonish, it’s a very attractive image, and, as is often the case, the colors are still bright and brilliant in the way that only these Nineteenth Century inks can be.