In the late 19th century, businesses utilized a very smart marketing tool to get the word out about their products: trade cards. Artists were commissioned to paint eye-catching imagery, while some savvy companies created a series that encouraged consumers to "collect them all." The genius of this approach is that it took advantage of scrapbooking, a very popular activity for parents and children at that time. This ensured that many of these cards would be shown off to others and passed down in the family.

Common ads marketed corsets, cold remedies, thread, sewing machines, parlor stoves, soap, chewing gum, and shoes. Children, animals and babies were frequently the subject of the art used to endorse products. Trade cards were placed in grocery bags and handed out where people conducted daily business transactions. We’ve all heard the expression, “drumming up business.” According to one collector, companies would hire noisy drummers to parade in the street and hand out these colorful collectibles.

Imagine a time when companies advertising their products were permitted to make impossible claims. The term “snake oil salesman” referred to the practice of advertising medicines that promised to cure almost any and all ailments. Since disease was a serious threat at the time, people eager for health, a full head of hair, and a long life free of pain were more likely to purchase the products that sometimes made impossible promises.

Researching advertising trade cards is a great way to find out more about history, and the evolution of advertising.

 

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