Object of the Day, Caption Contest: Tot in Cleveland

Click on image to enlarge.

With compliments 

GEORGE WALTHER, 

Crockery, China and Glassware, 

Table Cutlery, and a full line of House Fur-

nishing Goods. 

358 Ontario St. CLEVELAND, O. 

So, with the compliments of Mr. Walther, we have this melancholy, heavy-lidded child who, in a fit of depression, has forced her head through a wall. Perhaps she’s upset because she is so, apparently, sleepy.

This card from my collection is one of a curious lot of pale children with large heads who have decided to ram their craniums through some sort of paper screen. The others, boys, look rather pleased with themselves. This young lady, however, looks as if she’s ready to give up the ghost.

During an era of bright colors, florid designs, and rosy-cheeked tots, every so often, some pallid, morose Victorian child like this one pops up and leaves us, over one hundred years later, to wonder why she’s so sad, and, just what the advertiser was thinking.

These trade cards were designed and distributed to be collected so that the advertiser’s name was always in front of a potential customer. They were meant to be delightful and pretty. Still, there’s always the odd one which looks like it’s depicting a cast member from a questionable local production of “Our Town.”

So, despite her sadness, let’s make her the subject of a nice Saturday-before-American-Labor-Day Caption Contest. Do you feel the need, upon examining her wide, staring gaze and mournful countenance, to purchase cutlery? If so, why? 

Have fun. Answers in the comments, etc.