I was thinking about some of the things that I love to collect, and one of them is Victorian trade cards. I am sure that you have seen these in antique shops, but for those of you that don't know what they are, they were an early example of the modern business card. They were usually printed with an image on one side, and had space on the other side for the business to add its own information. They actually first became popular at the beginning of the 17th century in London, but the ones that we generally see were printed starting in the 1880's. What I particularly love about them is the beautiful color printing on some of these cards. I also find the printing on the back intriguing, as they advertise some of the seemingly craziest cures and products (by today's standards, anyway) at the very low prices being reflective the the era. And I find it incredible that these have survived for so long.
Here are I couple for you to use in your art, and for your reading enjoyment, I also scanned the backs that go with each! Most of the ones that I collect are beautiful to look at, and in a way it makes me sad to know that 130 years from now, with the current means of advertising being predominantly television and the Internet, no one will likely have such a pretty record of what we, as a society, used today. Am I the only one who feels like this?
I will share some others in a future post. Enjoy, and have an artful day!
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