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A trade card is a square or rectangular card that is small, but bigger than the modern
visiting card
A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small card used for social purposes. Before the 18th century, visitors making social calls left handwritten notes at the home of friends who were not at home. By the 1760s, the upper classes in ...
, and is exchanged in social circles, that a business distributes to clients and potential customers, as a kind of
business card. Trade cards first became popular at the end of the 17th century in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. They functioned as
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
and also as
map
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s, directing the public to the merchants' stores (no formal street address numbering system existed at the time).
Definition
The term, trade card, refers to a varied group of items made of paper or of card of varying sizes and shapes. Trade cards evolved in different ways in Britain, America and Europe, giving rise to wide variation in their format and design. The characteristic features of a trade card are that it is a small printed item, used by merchants and traders to give to their customers for their use as an aid to memory. Trade cards were sufficiently small so that they could be carried in the gentleman's pocket or lady's purse.
History
In its original sense, the "trade" in ''trade card'' refers to its use by the proprietor of a business to announce his trade, or line of business. Trade cards were widely used by retailers and tradesmen from around the late 17th-century in Paris, Lyon and London. In the period before mass media, they functioned as advertising and also as
map
A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes.
Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...
s, directing the public to the merchants' stores (no formal street address numbering system existed at the time). The trade card is an early example of the modern
business card. The use of trade cards in America became widespread from the mid-19th-century in the period following the Civil war.
The earliest trade cards were not cards at all, instead they were printed on paper and did not include illustrations. Later they were printed on the more substantial card and typically bore the tradesmen's name and address, and before street numbering was in common use, often included a long-winded set of directions on how to locate the store or premises. With the advent of commercial engraving and lithography, illustrations became a standard feature of even the most humble trade card. Eventually trade cards evolved into business cards, which are still in use today.
Eighteenth century traders wanted cards with impact and sophistication. Accordingly, they often hired notable designers and engravers to design their cards. In 1738, for instance, when leading Parisian art dealer
Edme-François Gersaint
Edmé-François Gersaint (1694–1750) was a Parisian ''marchand-mercier'' (merchant) who specialised in the sale of works of art and luxury goods and who is noted for revolutionising the art market by preparing, for the first time, detailed cata ...
changed the name of his business to ''A la Pagode'', he hired the engraver,
François Boucher to design his card. In 1767, the French painter,
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, also Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, (Paris, 14 April 1724 - Paris, 14 February 1780) was a French draftsman, printmaker, etcher and painter.
Biography
His brothers Charles Germain de Saint Aubin and Augustin de Saint-A ...
, designed a trade card for ''quincailler'' (ironmonger), Perier, whose premises were situated at the sign of the Moor's Head on the Quai de la Megisserie in Paris. Other artists who accepted commissions for trade cards included:
Hogarth,
Bartolozzi and
Bewick. The demand for trade cards, and also for catalogs fuelled demand for creative services such as etching, engraving and print-making in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Examples of early trade cards
File:Christopher Gibson's upholstery shop (trade card).jpg, Trade card for a London furniture store, 1730–42
File:Thomas Johnston trade card.jpg, Trade card for Thomas Johnston, Japaner of London, 1732
File:Trade card Samuel Grant 1736.jpg, Trade card Samuel Grant of Boston, 1736
File:Trade card of Thomas Jeffreys 1750.jpg, Trade card of Thomas Jeffreys, 1750
File:Trade Card, Trade Card- Advertisement, ca. 1750 (CH 18438743).jpg, Trade Card, for John Comm, London stationer, ca. 1750
File:Mary Elliott Milliner trade card.jpg, Trade card for Mary Elliott, milliner, 1757
File:George Adams Trade Card.jpg, Trade Card for George Adams, instrument maker, date unknown, bef. 1773
Fuelled by the advent of color lithography and multi-color printing, trade cards entered their heyday in the late 19th-century. Businesses began to create increasingly sophisticated designs, using color printing. A few American companies specialized in producing stock cards, usually with an image on one side and space on the other side for the business to add its own information. In around 1850,
Aristide Boucicaut
Aristide Boucicaut (; July 14, 1810 – December 26, 1877) was a French entrepreneur who created ''Le Bon Marché'', the first modern department store.
Background
Born in Bellême, in the Orne department on 14 July 1810, Boucicaut was the s ...
, the founder of the department store ''
Au Bon Marché'' used color printing to great effect when he seized on the idea of using the new chromolithography to offer a weekly advertising color print to children accompanied by their parents. This plan was so successful that it was soon emulated by other Parisian department stores. Cards for ''La Belle Jardiniére'' and ''
La Galerie Lafayette'' soon followed.
The attractive and colorful designs spawned a passion for collecting trade cards, which became a popular
hobby
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing Sport, sports, or pursu ...
in the late 19th century. By moving into the realm of
collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvio ...
, trade cards gave rise to the
trading card, the meaning now shifting to the exchange or trade of cards by enthusiasts. Some cards, particularly those produced by
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
companies featuring
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
players, later developed into
collectible
A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...
s and lost their function as a business advertisement.
File:FloridaWaterTC1881.jpg, Lithographed trade card advertising Murray & Lanman Florida Water Cologne
File:Liebig-back.jpg, Back of a German Liebig Extract of Meat Trade Card from 1885
File:Farinahaus1709-300dpi.jpg, Early 19th-century English-language trade card of John Maria Farina, cologne manufacturer, showing Farina Haus, Köln.
The interest in collecting trade cards has ensured that many examples have survived. Collections of rare trade cards, dating from the 17th-century to the 19th century can be found at the British Library, Bodleian Library, Oxford, and Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. Another important collection of medical trade cards is the Wellcome Collection.
Wellcome Collection of trade cards, 18th century to present
/ref>
See also
* Advertising postcard
* Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, stad ...
— the earliest baseball cards were trade cards
* Carte de visite
The ''carte de visite'' (, visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size o ...
* Cigarette card
Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco industry, tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and nicotine marketing, advertise cigarette brands.
Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible ca ...
— a type of trade card packaged in tobacco products
* Postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
* Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. s — trade cards were some of the earliest "prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. s" packaged in retail products
* Trading card — successors of trade cards
References
Further reading
* Kit Barry, ''Reflections: Ephemera from Trades, Products, and Events, '' ols. I and II Kit Barry Ephemera Auctions, Brattleboro, VT, 1993, 1994
* Maxine Berg and Helen Clifford, "Selling Consumption in the Eighteenth Century: Advertising and the Trade Card in Britain and France," ''Cultural & Social History'' (2007) 4#2 pp 145–170
* Robert Jay, ''The Trade Card in Nineteenth-Century America,'' Columbia, University of Missouri Press, 1987.
External links
{{Commons category, Trade cards
Trade Card Valuations
Wellcome Collection of trade cards, 18th century to present
Victorian Tradecards
Brooklyn Public Library: Fulton Street Trade Card Collection
Iowa Digital Library: Victorian Trade Cards Digital Collection
Victorian Trade Card Collection on Flickr
17th-18th century French and German Trade Card Collection at Waddesdon Manor Online
*Th
which includes nineteenth century trade cards from Philadelphia and surrounding region, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...
.
Business cards
Retail processes and techniques
Stationery
Advertising tools