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Here’s an excellent example of a “stock” trade card which has been used by a business as an advertising tool. The card, likely selected from a catalog from a local printer, features a comic drawing and caption which, it seems appealed to the advertiser.
The drawing depicts “Simple Simon” who seems to either have a tooth-ache or is deceased, and, in the style of Jacob Marley, has his jaw bound. Simon wears his dressing gown and is fishing. The caption at the above right reads:
SIMPLE SIMON WENT A FISHING
FOR TO CATCH A WHALE
ALL THE WATER HE HAD GOT
WAS IN HIS MOTHER’S PAIL.
This is the way the card looked when it was selected from the catalog. As you can see, there’s a white space to the left of the caption which was meant to contain the logo or motto of the business who selected this particular model. The advertiser opted not to have that space printed, instead focusing only on adding a custom-printed message to the reverse which would have been entirely blank. Two-sided printing would have been considerably more costly.
Let’s see what the reverse says, and, especially, who the advertiser is. Firstly, I notice that they spell “chenille” with three “l’s.” In fact, it's kind of a mess. I'll try to replicate it here as best I can with limited Internet fonts.
WM. J. NEWMAN JOHN LEVINSON
NEWMAN & LEVINSON,
(Successors to BUYER & REICH,)
IMPORTERS OF AND DEALERS IN
Berlin Zephyrs, German Yarns,
CANVAS, HOSIERY, LACES
CHENILLLE, EMBROIDERY, FANCY GOODS,
FLOSS BEADS, WHITE GOODS, TRIMMINGS, ETC.
KID GLOVES.
Gilt and Silver Trimmings for Theatrical and Society Purposes.
Decorative Art Rooms Up Stairs
No. 129 Kearny Street.
Between Sutter and Post, San Francisco
I want some "fancy goods!" I’d guess this card dates to about 1880, by the way. The store certainly has an interesting assortment of goods. I wonder, however, why they are so shy about the “Decorative Art Rooms” which are seemingly hidden upstairs.
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