Object of the Day: Life and Coffee in a Shoe

Click image to be whipped soundly.

There was an old woman
     who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children
     she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth
     without any bread, 

She whipped them all soundly
     and put them to bed. 


Excellent parenting advice. It makes me think of the strength and purity of coffee, it does.

At first, I wasn’t sure if this card was die-cut or if it was cut by hand by a former owner who intended to use it for other purposes, likely decoupage. The latter was often the fate of these trade cards. In one way this preserved them forever under a nice layer of varnish, but, in another, it distances the item from its original form.

Either way, here we have an old lady who lived in her shoe. Living in a shoe, it seems, hasn’t kept her from procreating. Clearly, this card was once one of a collectible series produced by Lion Coffee. This was No. 8.

Now, you see, this is where the whole thing gets foggy. On the reverse, printed above the verse describing this elderly woman’s living conditions, we have a line drawing of the scene to the left of the image from the next scene in the series.  Or is it? And, then, at the very bottom are the mysterious words, “Bend Back Standards.”

What does that mean?

Was this part of a larger sheet which was designed to be cut and displayed in a child’s room? Were the publishers anticipating that these would be collected in order?

I couldn’t leave it alone. So, a little research tells me that this was, in fact, a die-cut card, one of a nursery rhyme series which also corresponds with a paper-doll series produced by Lion Coffee in the late Nineteenth Century.

But, there’s something missing. First of all, the lower portion of this card is now gone. This would have been bent and taped so that the “shoe” would stand up as a background. You’ll notice that the “old woman” is conspicuously absent from the shoe. That’s because she came later as a paper doll—also a standee. She was shown holding a large stick in one hand and a naughty child in the other and was drawn in mid-spank. Charming.  The second piece of this scene was a standee of the other, already-beaten, children in bed.

All-in-all, it’s a nifty advertising gimmick. Collectors of such things are quite keen to amass the complete sets which, it seems, are very difficult to come by. So, apparently, even a century later, the gimmick is still working. Well done, Lion Coffee.

Drawing of the Day: You'd Best Go Down to the Gardener, 1916

Scene from "The Widow's Son"
Kay Nielsen, 1916
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Danish-born illustrator Kay Nielsen had long been inspired by native Scandinavian tales. Even as a child, Nielsen would draw the epic Viking stories which were read aloud to him by his family. This influence naturally led to a career illustrating fairytales and nursery rhymes.

Nielsen’s work hints at the Art Nouveau. He’d studied in Paris during the height of the movement. There, he developed a trademark style which shows elements of the Art Nouveau as well as lines and patterns influenced by Japanese Art.

This 1916 image from the traditional Norse tale, “The Widow’s Son” shows Nielsen’s typical style. A work of pen and ink on paper, the illustration depicts a stylized garden occupied by a bearded man who holds a spade and flowers. He looks over his shoulder to a vision of a female face. I’m not familiar with this story, but, if you are, the inscription must make sense. It reads’ You’d best go down to the gardener.”

Object of the Day: Life and Coffee in a Shoe, Part II

Click on image to live in a shoe.

Remember this from last Monday?

When I first saw that die-cut card from Lion Coffee, I had to do some research since I wasn’t aware of their Nursery Rhyme Campaign. I noted that, in this series, each nursery rhyme had several collectible cut-out pieces which, when combined, created the scene. For example, the “Old Lady in the Shoe,” I noted, came with the “shoe,” the old lady and a bed wherein she tucked in some of her assorted children. 

After I wrote that article, I put the card away and didn’t think about it. However, over the weekend, in preparing for this week’s site posts, I noticed that, tucked into one of the piles of ephemera, was a great assortment of these very coverted Lion Coffee die-cuts, including, one of the other pieces of the “Shoe Lady.” So, here they are—all nicely slumbering, unaware of their footwear-related poverty. 

Drawing of the Day: You'd Best Go Down to the Gardener, 1916

Scene from "The Widow's Son"
Kay Nielsen, 1916
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Danish-born illustrator Kay Nielsen had long been inspired by native Scandinavian tales. Even as a child, Nielsen would draw the epic Viking stories which were read aloud to him by his family. This influence naturally led to a career illustrating fairytales and nursery rhymes.

Nielsen’s work hints at the Art Nouveau. He’d studied in Paris during the height of the movement. There, he developed a trademark style which shows elements of the Art Nouveau as well as lines and patterns influenced by Japanese Art.

This 1916 image from the traditional Norse tale, “The Widow’s Son” shows Nielsen’s typical style. A work of pen and ink on paper, the illustration depicts a stylized garden occupied by a bearded man who holds a spade and flowers. He looks over his shoulder to a vision of a female face. I’m not familiar with this story, but, if you are, the inscription must make sense. It reads’ You’d best go down to the gardener.”

Object of the Day: Life and Coffee in a Shoe

Click image to be whipped soundly.

There was an old woman
     who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children
     she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth
     without any bread, 

She whipped them all soundly
     and put them to bed. 


Excellent parenting advice. It makes me think of the strength and purity of coffee, it does.

At first, I wasn’t sure if this card was die-cut or if it was cut by hand by a former owner who intended to use it for other purposes, likely decoupage. The latter was often the fate of these trade cards. In one way this preserved them forever under a nice layer of varnish, but, in another, it distances the item from its original form.

Either way, here we have an old lady who lived in her shoe. Living in a shoe, it seems, hasn’t kept her from procreating. Clearly, this card was once one of a collectible series produced by Lion Coffee. This was No. 8.

Now, you see, this is where the whole thing gets foggy. On the reverse, printed above the verse describing this elderly woman’s living conditions, we have a line drawing of the scene to the left of the image from the next scene in the series.  Or is it? And, then, at the very bottom are the mysterious words, “Bend Back Standards.”

What does that mean?

Was this part of a larger sheet which was designed to be cut and displayed in a child’s room? Were the publishers anticipating that these would be collected in order?

I couldn’t leave it alone. So, a little research tells me that this was, in fact, a die-cut card, one of a nursery rhyme series which also corresponds with a paper-doll series produced by Lion Coffee in the late Nineteenth Century.

But, there’s something missing. First of all, the lower portion of this card is now gone. This would have been bent and taped so that the “shoe” would stand up as a background. You’ll notice that the “old woman” is conspicuously absent from the shoe. That’s because she came later as a paper doll—also a standee. She was shown holding a large stick in one hand and a naughty child in the other and was drawn in mid-spank. Charming.  The second piece of this scene was a standee of the other, already-beaten, children in bed.

All-in-all, it’s a nifty advertising gimmick. Collectors of such things are quite keen to amass the complete sets which, it seems, are very difficult to come by. So, apparently, even a century later, the gimmick is still working. Well done, Lion Coffee.