The Industrial Revolution in America occurred in two phases.
The first phase (1792-1865) focused on textile production and steam power. Textiles were produced in Samuel Slater’s textile mill in Rhode Island in 1793. Other New England states that produced textiles included Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The second phase (1865-1900) was after the Civil War and saw advancements in steel production, electricity and mass production techniques like the assembly line.
During that time, inventions like the cotton gin, interchangeable machine parts, the telegraph, the incandescent light bulb and Henry Ford’s automobile assembly line grew into large businesses. The social impact of all this was urbanization, which improved working conditions for laborers, created new social classes, and fostered a consumer culture. Mass production led to a wider availability of consumer goods and the development of department stores and mail-order catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward.
Small businesses needed ways to compete and advertise their products and services. With the development of color (chromo) lithography in Germany, advertisements, labels and trade cards could be produced more cheaply in America. Small businesses could now have calendars, broadsides and trade cards printed at relatively low cost. Some featured whimsical illustrations, humorous scenes or romanticized depictions of everyday life. There were over 200 different genres of trade cards during this era. Other cards showcased the products directly, often with exaggerated claims about them.
The ”Golden Age” of trade cards had begun. Color advertising trade cards delighted potential customers. Most early trade cards were black and white, but some companies embraced the new colorful look. For businesses, mass production techniques allowed large numbers of cards to be produced and distributed. David Heston of Philadelphia claimed he could produce 10,000 cards for $20 for distribution. The cards also contained the names and addresses of the businesses. One dry goods chain in New York bragged that it intended to distribute 100,000 trade cards in a single season. Charles Hires claimed he had distributed 1 million root beer cards in a single year. Trade cards were sent through the mail, distributed in retail stores, handed out on sidewalks, stuffed into bags and packages, and used like confetti in the streets.
By the late 1880s, collecting chromolithograph cards or chromos had become the latest craze. America was dubbed a “chromo civilization”. Mark Twain wrote “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” in 1889, where the Victorian hero mentioned his love of chromos in describing his New England home. Americans began collecting trade cards and putting them in albums, usually with paste or glue. This makes it hard for modern collectors to remove them and put them in proper plastic sleeves in albums. Many trade cards are for sale on eBay.
Large companies saw opportunities to use trade cards at the 1876 Centennial Exposition held at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That fair was to honor the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The six-month fair attracted 10 million visitors from all over the world. Major companies sought to draw attention to their products through trade cards. Centennial exhibits featured art, manufacturing and agricultural products from all over the United States and the world.
Three major American furniture companies exhibited at the fair. One was the Nelson and Matter Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It featured a two-piece bedroom suite that was 18 feet tall. The suite contained over 6,000 individual pieces of black walnut and took two years to build. There were seven niches in the headboard, footboard and dresser with 18-inch statues of Washington, Lincoln, Socrates, Plato, etc. The suite was priced at $10,000 at the fair and was a wonder of craftsmanship. The suite was sold to a Texas furniture dealer in 1877. He exhibited the suite in his furniture store to draw in customers. It was eventually purchased by a doctor in Texas who built his house large enough to house the suite. When he died in the late 1960s, his estate was sold at public auction. The suite’s current location is unknown.
Nelson and Matter had oversized trade cards printed showing the suite. I saw my first one in a New York Historical Society book in 1976. From then on, as a collector, I searched for a real one at antique advertising shows, postcard shows and regular antique shows. Finally, in 2005, we attended the Indianapolis Antique Advertising Show. A dealer from Michigan had one in his booth. It was pricey, but I bought it anyway. I was thrilled to finally have one of my own.
Another major Grand Rapids Furniture company that exhibited was Berkey and Gay. They exhibited a two-piece walnut bedroom suite that was 12 feet tall. The company made trade cards with images of their bedroom suites. I purchased an original card from that same dealer in Indianapolis.
The first time we visited the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the magnificent Centennial Berkey and Gay suite was on display. It was part of an exhibit dedicated to Grand Rapids as the “Furniture Capitol of the World” during the late 1800s and early 1900s. William Haldane is credited with starting the industry there in 1836. His campaign made Grand Rapids a global hub for furniture manufacturing. The furniture industry flourished in Grand Rapids because of local lumber resources and a skilled labor force that transitioned from handmade furniture to mass production of hundreds of quality furniture pieces produced each year.
In that temporary exhibit of the museum, there were worker figures stationed around the display space, some of which spoke to visitors as they passed. A friend and colleague of mine, Chris Carron from my M.A. program at EIU in Charleston, wrote a book titled “Grand Rapids Furniture: The Story of America’s Furniture City”. It features the Berkey and Gay bed on the front cover. Chris was an exhibit designer at the museum.
Another unique furniture company to exhibit at the Centennial fair was the Wooton Desk Manufacturing Company from Indianapolis, Indiana. William S. Wooton’s company produced three-piece walnut desks with a main carcass 5 feet tall and two 1-foot-thick closing doors with pigeonholes, horizontal and vertical filing spaces, and even a mailbox drop. There were several of them on display in the US Patent Office and the Indiana Building. The unique desks ranged in price from $150-$750 in their 1876 exhibition catalog for all their models. The superior-grade desks were only made from 1876 to 1878. They cost up to $750, which is today’s equivalent of $23,392. A superior grade model was found in California, which is valued at $150,000. Another superior model was made for Queen Victoria I of England. The company made several versions of its trade card. Betty Lawson Walters wrote a booklet titled “The King of Desks: Wooton’s Patent Secretary” for the Smithsonian Institution in 1969. Famous people owned them, like John D. Rockefeller, Joseph Pulitzer, Jay Gould, President Ulysses Grant, Sidney Lanier and Charles Scribner. The company’s trade card and newspaper ads featured Wooton desks in several styles and configurations.
I have a few trade cards from some Effingham and Paris businesses, as well as elsewhere around the country. They are unique and varied with animals, cartoons and comic images. Three of them were printed for Fitch Jeweler of Effingham. Another pair of small fan-shaped ones are in different colors. They have the same back, which reads “The Alden Fruit Vinegar Absolutely Pure Uniform Strength Always Keeps Pickles. Eversman & Speck Dealers in Groceries, General Produce, Dry Goods, etc.” Two other cards from Effingham were issued by B. Vogt Boots and Shoes on Jefferson Street. On the two colored sides are a parrot and a cardinal in chromo colors. A note at the bottom of his cards reads “Custom work, a Specialty, and Guaranteed or No Sale”. That testifies to his integrity as a businessman.
It’s the thrill of the hunt that keeps collectors like me collecting trade cards, postcards, world’s fair items, breweriana and books. I always look for them in shops and malls where dealers sell postcards, books and advertising items.
If you have any questions or comments about Victorian trade cards, email me at wootongs@gmail.com or call me at 217-259-4354.