Guide to the John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection
© Copyright 2012 Special Collections & University Archives. All rights reserved.
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Guide to the John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection
1875/1915
Special Collections & University Archives
Overview of the Collection
Collection Title: John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection
Dates: 1875-1915
Identification: MS-0406
Creator:
Adams Trade Card Collection
Physical Description: 0.67 linear ft
Language of Materials:
English
French
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: scref@rohan.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Note:
Other Information:
This collection has been digitized. Click the link below to access the digital collection.
Additional information may be found at http://ibase.sdsu.edu/index.php?a=ViewItem&i=531
Biographical Information:
Trade cards, also known as advertising cards, were wildly popular collectibles in the latter half of the nineteenth century
as consumer culture took over America. Advertising a huge variety of manufactured goods in bright chromolithographed colors,
trade cards were produced by advertisers to encourage recognition of brand names and to stimulate demand for the products
advertised. Though trade cards sometimes feature rather generic Victorian images of flowers or birds, these attractive pieces
of ephemera often feature comic little vignettes with punchy slogans, or instructions for catchy games to be played using
the card. Some are die-cut, and some have folding or moveable pieces--features that surely made great fun for their collectors.
Trade cards were often issued in series to emphasize their collectible aspect, and this collection has many representatives
from various series; for example, McLaughlin's Coffee "War Ship" series, or Arbuckle's "States" series.
Trade cards often contain a separate advertisement for the local seller of the product, usually on the verso of the card.
A huge variety of social and cultural topics are open for study using trade cards. Depictions of women and femininity, domesticity
and the American home, advertising methods and consumerism, social mores, race relations, humor--all are made tangible in
this type of American ephemera.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Genre/Form of Material:
Digital Records
Ephemera
Personal Name:
Adams, Jane Ford -- Art collections
Adams, John R., 1900-1994 -- Art collections
Topical Term:
Advertising cards -- Private collections -- California -- San Diego
Advertising cards -- Specimens
Advertising cards -- United States -- Specimens
Trade cards -- Specimens
Administrative Information
Separated Materials:
These materials were separated from the unprocessed John and Jane Adams Ephemera Collection, Box 6 (Advertisements).
Conditions Governing Use:
These materials are in the public domain. However, the nature of historical archival and manuscript collections means that
copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained
in the collection or their heirs. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections,
San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections
as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must
also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and
private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement
of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Conditions Governing Access:
This collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation:
Identification of item, folder title, box number, John and Jane Adams Trade Card Collection, Special Collections and University
Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University.
Related Materials:
John and Jane Adams Greeting Card Collection
John and Jane Adams Autograph Album Collection
John and Jane Adams Postcard Collection
Arrangement of Materials:
The collection is arranged alphabetically by type of product. Within each folder, cards are arranged alphabetically by name
of product advertised. There is a "Miscellaneous Products" folder found at the end of the collection which houses cards not
readily categorizeable. Cards that do not advertise a product, but were rather meant to serve as advertising for a business,
are housed in the "Individual Businesses" folder.
When a count appears in parentheses after a product listing in the finding aid (i.e., Union Sewing Machine (10)), this denotes
that there are ten different cards advertising the Union Sewing Machine. There are no duplicate cards in the collection.
Scope and Contents
A variety of products are advertised in the collection. All trade cards in the collection are American except two French cards
which can be found in the "Miscellaneous Products" folder.
This collection has been digitized. Copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar to access the digital collection:
http://infodome.sdsu.edu/projects/tradecards/.
Detailed List of Contents
Box 1, Folder 1
Smith's Clinch Back Suspenders
Box 1, Folder 1
Dr. Warner's Coraline Corsets
Box 1, Folder 2
Farm Implements and Supplies
Box 1, Folder 2
Burchard and Oswald Harnesses
Box 1, Folder 2
Gibbs' Imperial Plows (2)
Box 1, Folder 2
Studebaker Brothers Carriages and Wagons
Box 1, Folder 2
Terry's Scissors and Shears
Box 1, Folder 3
Arm and Hammer Baking Soda (2)
Box 1, Folder 3
Central Milling Company Roller Process Flour
Box 1, Folder 3
Ghirardelli's Milk Chocolate (2)
Box 1, Folder 3
Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes
Box 1, Folder 3
N. K. Fairbanks Lard (10)
Box 1, Folder 3
Professor Horsford's Phosphatic Baking Powder
Box 1, Folder 4
Samuel Chatfield, Asst. Manager, Kennedy Revolving Harrow
Box 1, Folder 4
Continental Insurance Co. of New York
Box 1, Folder 4
Harry Deakin's Academy of Music
Box 1, Folder 4
W. R. Fish Spice Mills, Topeka, KS (5)
Box 1, Folder 4
Furman's Shoe House, Topeka KS
Box 1, Folder 4
Golden Eagle Clothing House, Topeka KS
Box 1, Folder 4
S. Gross Dry Goods, Franklin, KY
Box 1, Folder 4
Greenwald and Co. One Price Clothing House, Topeka, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
James B. Hayden, Jeweler, Topeka, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
Wm. Hall Jenkins, Notary Public, Topeka, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
A. S. Kent Watches, Jewelry, and Silverware, Nickerson, KS (3)
Box 1, Folder 4
A. F. Nitting and Co. Fine Clothing and Tailor, Chicago, IL
Box 1, Folder 4
H. L. Niedringhaus, Furniture, St. Louis, MO
Box 1, Folder 4
Reynolds Brothers Celebrated Fine Shoes, Utica, NY
Box 1, Folder 4
John S. Rhodes, Topeka, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
George A. Rick and Bro. Furniture
Box 1, Folder 4
Plano Mfg. Co., Plano, IL
Box 1, Folder 4
L. Prang and Co. Art and Education Publishers, Boston, MA
Box 1, Folder 4
Mrs. Slosson's Fancy Goods Stand
Box 1, Folder 4
"The Popular" Shoe Store, Omaha, NE
Box 1, Folder 4
Topeka Parlor Furniture, Topeka, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
The Domestic S. M. Co., A. H. Turner, Chanute, KS
Box 1, Folder 4
Tucker's Best Groceries, Harlem, NY
Box 1, Folder 4
Union Pacific Tea Co, Amsterdam, NY
Box 1, Folder 5
Borg's Sure Cure Pepsin and Bismuth Chewing Gum
Box 1, Folder 5
Brown's Popular Medicines (2)
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. Hedges' Pulmonic Life Balsam
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. Jackson's Syrup of Wild Cherry and Lungwort
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. Jackson's Root and Herb Cordial
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. Jayne's Tonic Vermifuge
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. Marshall's Lung Syrup
Box 1, Folder 5
Dr. C. D. Warner's White Wine of Tar Syrup
Box 1, Folder 5
Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry
Box 1, Folder 5
Humphrey's Witch Hazel Oil
Box 1, Folder 5
Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder
Box 1, Folder 5
Tarrant's Seltzer Aperient
Box 1, Folder 6
Austen's Forest Flower Cologne (2)
Box 1, Folder 6
Hoyt's German Cologne (7)
Box 1, Folder 6
Lazell's Unrivalled Perfumes
Box 1, Folder 6
Fleming Brothers Mikado Cologne
Box 1, Folder 6
Read's Grand Duchess Cologne
Box 1, Folder 7
Household Sewing Machines Co.
Box 1, Folder 7
New Home Sewing Machines (5)
Box 1, Folder 7
Union Sewing Machine (12)
Box 1, Folder 8
Brook's Prize Medal Spool Cotton
Box 1, Folder 8
J. P. Coat's Six Cord Thread (10)
Box 1, Folder 8
Corticelli's Spool Silk (2)
Box 1, Folder 8
Clark's O. N. T. Spool Cotton
Box 1, Folder 9
Button's Raven Gloss Shoe Dressing
Box 1, Folder 9
Diamond Black Leather Oil
Box 1, Folder 9
Steinberg's Fine Boots and Shoes
Box 1, Folder 10
Fairbank's White Star Soap
Box 1, Folder 10
Fairbank's Fine Family Soaps (2)
Box 1, Folder 10
Gowan and Stover's Pure and Healthful Soaps (2)
Box 1, Folder 10
Oberne, Hosnick and Co.'s Celebrated Soaps
Box 1, Folder 10
Pearline Washing Compound (3)
Box 2, Folder 1
Gold Coin and Gold Medal Stoves and Ranges
Box 2, Folder 1
Hyer's Big Bonanza Stove Polish (2)
Box 2, Folder 2
Arbuckle's Ariosa Coffee (3)
Box 2, Folder 2
McLaughlin's XXXX Coffee (8)
Box 2, Folder 2
Schnull and Krag's Coffee (2)
Box 2, Folder 3
Lorillard's Plowshare Chew
Box 2, Folder 3
National League Fine Cut Tobacco
Box 2, Folder 4
Buckingham's Dye for the Whiskers
Box 2, Folder 4
Chicago and Northwestern Railway (2)
Box 2, Folder 4
Impervious Package Co.'s Safety Oil Can
Box 2, Folder 4
"Koh-i-Noor" Tracing Cloth
Box 2, Folder 4
Patent Revolving Window Sash
Box 2, Folder 4
Van Stan's Stratena Cement
Box 2, Folder 4
French card: Chocolat d'Aiguebelle
Box 2, Folder 4
French card: product unknown
