Object of the Day: A Trade Card for Bon Ami Cleanser

Click image to see a very small girl or a very large cat.

Known for its famous slogan, “Hasn’t scratched yet” along with their mascot of a newly hatched chick, Bon Ami Cleanser has been a part of many a home (including mine) for decades. Developed in 1896 as an alternative to the harsh tallow-based cleansers of the late Nineteenth Century, Bon Ami’s name translates to “Good friend.” And, truly, it has been. It’s also one of the great examples of successful American branding.

In 1896, as Bon Ami was finding its marketing legs, and before the long-lasting “baby chick” campaign was developed, Bon Ami played with other ideas to communicate the idea that their product would clean without scratching.

I was fortunate enough to come across one of those original 1896 ad campaigns with this trade card which I recently added to my collection.

We have, in this lovely chromolithograph, an image of a little girl (who, is, by the way, truly little in that queer proportion unique to Victorian commercial art—she’s either very small or the cat, bird and bird cage are exceptionally large) trying to pull her cat away (by the tail) from a cage containing a parrot. And, they’re outside. Interesting.

Still, we get the idea. The cleanser doesn’t scratch. We’re reminded of this by the ad copy:

CATS CAN,
BUT 

BON AMI CAN NOT SCRATCH FOR IT LACKS GRIT.

While the Baby Chick motif is more elegant, this gets the point across quite well.

Let’s see what the reverse tells us:

Bon Ami
is a modern improve-
ment in the list of
household necessities,
doing the work of a metal polish,
a scouring soap and all powders used for cleaning
purposes (not for washing of clothes). It will clean
anything cleanable and polish anything that can be
polished. It contains no grit to scratch or acid to
corrode; neither is there any alkali to redden or
roughen the hands; on the contrary, it leaves them
soft.
     It is always USED IN THE FORM OF A LATHER, 
which is applied to the surface to be cleansed.
It requires so little water for this that slops and
muss are avoided. It is made of the best and finest
material, and is so constituted that while it is too
fine to scratch, it is coarse enough to clean. Coarser
cleansers gradually and surely wear out the article
cleansed, but BON AMI removes the dirt WITHOUT
INJURING OR WEARING OFF THE SURFACE.
     Don’t fail to try the sample. Read carefully
directions with each package. 

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FOR SALE BY ALL GROCERS.
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The Bon Ami Company, 66 Maiden Lane,              NEW YORK CITY.