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| Click Image to Enlarge SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS FOR WHAT THIS CARD COULD HAVE BEEN USED IN THE COMMENTS |
There’s something eerily 1960s about this card. Those who were alive during the period (I was born close enough to it that I saw the last gasps of it) may recall the strange and twisted nod to the Victorian that arose in the 60s. Designers took Victorian ideals and made them brighter, oranger, pinker, and, well…odd. Images of children with disturbingly large eyes were quite fashionable in the 1960s while images of children with normal-sized eyes were the rage in the 1860s.
So, that’s why this blank trade card strikes me as peculiar. Well, one of many reasons. First of all, it was never used. This was, I’m sure, among a selection of cards which were available at a printer to be used as advertising pieces for local business. The back would possibly have been printed with relevant data and the front would have included the businesses name and motto in the very evident empty spot at the lower right—the depiction of a card hanging from a ribbon. The fact that it was never used makes it seem really sad, especially when juxtaposed with the frantic scene which has been depicted here.
And, it is frantic. I have a very sturdy threshold for weird, but there’s something not right about this image. Four children with queerly large eyes are dressed in blue and rust. They’re riding an enormous horseshoe and waving bunches of bright pink flowers about. A garland of roses hangs above them—from nothing. A floral pattern seems to be holding up the horseshoe which, furthermore, appears to be a portal to a different world comprised of fuzzy landscapes.
The main child, it seems, has a peg-leg from which hangs the aforementioned blank card. Why do I think he has a peg-leg? Look at it. On his other foot, he’s wearing a blue boot which matches his wee outfit. But, this leg—this leg ends is a black stump which has been trussed up with laces. Was his foot taken so that someone could hang signs from it? We’ll never know. Now, I have a task for you—I want you to decide what Victorian brand or product might have selected this card for their advertising. I want to see what you come up with! Post your ideas in the comments.
15 comments:
Captain McSwiggins Lavendar Eyewash
I'd buy that.
Horseshoe Time Machines
See, I'd buy that, too.
Red Peg-leg Applicators.
There's not one good thing about the word "applicator."
Front of the card::
Vicky and Al's Magic Posy Pollen
Shoes Horses and Repairs Stumps
Back of the card:
Vicky and Al's Magic Posy Pollen is the most important product of this or any century. Just sprinkle it on any horseshoe and apply it to any horse and magically the horse is shod.
Sprinkle it on any appendage that has some how
become a stump and the appendage is healed. ( The wide eyed boy on the front of this card had his stump repared right after this card was printed.)
Here are some testimonials from satisfied customers:
Miss M. of Teck said: Vicky and Al's Magic Posy Pollen is the most wonderful product. It makes shoeing horses a breeze. The stump repair even works on my Fabergé animals.
The Duke of Earl said: Simply smashing! I've saved many a shilling on nails using Vicky and Al's Magic Posy Pollen when shoeing my horses. The stump repair helps save from have to hire new staff after those pesky farming accidents.
Vicky and Al's Magic Posey Pollen - Try it you'll like it!
T
*WILD APPLAUSE* I wish I was giving a prize for this! If I was, we'd have a winner. You'd have been perfect for writing the outrageous claims these cards usually made. This could easily have been real.
P.S. I appreciated the names very much.
I can't top that answer. Just want to thank you for the distraction from a messed up crazy day.
I hope your day gets better, Matt.
Darcy has the best answer. I was going to say it was for Sad-Eyed Victorian Chikd Mascara.
A big seller.
Darcy wins the internet!
Lucky Horseshoe Brand pacifiers.
Very practical.
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