Object of the Day: Clark's ONT Spool Cotton

Click on image to get a grip.

At first glance, I thought, oh, what a pretty card. And, it is. It joins many other Clarks Thread cards as well as Coats Thread cards in my collection of Victorian ephemera. It’s got all the hallmarks of Victorian advertising—lush colors, rosy-cheeked tots. The image was clearly created specifically for Clark’s. This is no stock card. Time, money and effort went into the creation of this piece.

And, then, I studied the image more closely. Perhaps it’s just because I’m messed up in the head, but I see something a little more sinister going on here beyond two sisters posing angelically. Look at the face of the girl in red. She’s up to something. Yes?

She hasn’t got the little blonde in an embrace. No. It’s a grip. She’s gripping the girl’s tender flesh in her vice-like, tiny left hand. And, what about the other hand? She’s doing something with that pink ribbon. The poor blonde is unaware…caught in that moment just before she realizes what’s happening.

Nonetheless, it’s a pretty chromolithograph. And, frankly, my interpretation of the events just makes me like it more.

Let’s see what’s going on with the reverse. Ah, yes, more ultra-confident ad copy.

The Most Popular Articles 

of their kind 

CLARK’S 

O.N.T. 

SPOOL COTTON. 

For Hand and Machine 

Sewing. 

Clark’s O.N.T. Crochet Cotton on Balls. 

Clark’s O.N.T. Darning Cotton on Balls. 

Milward’s Helix Needles 

AND 

Marshall’s Linen Threads.

Object of the Day: Coats Card with Shepherds

I’m really not sure why there are so many J. & P. Coats trade cards in this lot, but, they are bountiful.  Here’s another one.  I’ve been saving this one since it seems Easter-ish to me what with the bucolic scene of a flute-playing shepherdess and her beau (or maybe, her brother—one can never tell).  They lean against an unusually short tree while two lambs rest in the background.

As usual, there’s an enormous spool of white thread in the foreground.  These giant spools of thread were the U.S. Victorian equivalent of Jack the Ripper—leaping out from the shadows to attack unsuspecting youngsters.  Okay, I’m kidding.  It’s just a reminder about what the card is advertising.  After all, the scene, as usual, has nothing to do with thread.  I guess they figured that an odd, over-sized spool would serve as natural product placement in any scene.

The reverse is the standard J. & P. Coats Thread boiler plate.  The giant spool’s headshot is surrounded by the usual text:

J. & P. Coats’

Best Six Cord Thread

White, Black and Colors

For Hand and Machine.

Object of the Day: Another Trade Card for J. & P. Coats Thread

Here’s another Victorian trade card advertising J. & P. Coats Thread.  This one stood out from the lot today because I have birds on my mind.  A dove has made a nest on my back porch.  Of course, I’ve given her a name—Clementina.  She’s going to be a mama and Bertie and I have enjoyed having her take residence on our property.  So, today’s posts are in honor of Clementina and her growing family.

As is typical of these cards, this one depicts a scene of a happy child which really has nothing to do with the product being sold.  Here, a nicely dressed young lady is surrounded by pigeons.  I assume she’s feeding them.  Either that or they’re about to eat her.  One can never be sure.  In usual J. & P. Coats style, an enormous spool of white thread looms ominously in the foreground—perhaps egging on the birds in their murderous spree.

I got a little carried away there.  Sorry.

The reverse is the standard Coats ad:

J&P. Coats’ Best Six Chord Thread

White, Black and Colors for Hand and Machine.

Object of the Day: Another J. & P. Coats Thread Trade Card

 

For some reason this lot of Victorian trade cards has more than its fair share of cards advertising for J. & P. Coats thread company.  This one depicts the usual jolly scene of children, but this one is more pastoral than the others.  Here, we see an older girl holding a pony steady as it feeds from the apron of her younger sister.  A giant spool of white Coats thread has rolled into the foreground.  Okay, I know it’s not really a giant spool of thread, but that’s what it looks like.

Above the scene the usual slogan has been printed:

White, Black & Colors for Hand and Machine.

The reverse of the card is the standard Coats & Co. advertising image of a spool of thread with the copy:

J&P. Coats’ Best Six Chord Thread

White, Black and Colors for Hand and Machine.

I do like this Coats cards.  Despite the usual theme of cherubic tots, they really are quite varied between mildly comic scenes and genre images.  The people at Coats really seemed to understand the value of this little advertising tool, and, consequently, they were very prolific.