Regular readers of this blog know that I enjoy collecting 19th century trade cards. You can read all about my advertising collection here.
Mechanicals are relatively rare because they weren't preserved in albums like other trade cards. They almost always were also distributed with expensive purchases, like reapers.
The mechanicals are literally windows onto American farm life of the 1880s, and the latest technology of that time.
The reverse of the Hayes mechanical reads:
SEE OUR PLANTER EXHIBIT
AGRICULTURAL ANNEX
SECTION E. COLUMN R-7.
.
.
.
Hello Mark:
ReplyDeleteThese are most intriguing and, we should imagine, highly collectable. They do, of course, represent, as you say, a certain period in American history and serve as a social comment on the times.
We assume the idea of the 'mechanical' cards are not peculiar to the United States but cannot recall having seen anything similar in the United Kingdom. Does your collection extend to cards manufactured outside of the home country?
The image of 'Uncle Sam' addressing an international gathering is most splendid.
Hello, Jane and Lance:
DeleteThe core of my collection came from an antique dealer who for decades collected Victorian scrapbooks in New England. (I felt no regret cannibalizing those albums because each had a handful of wonderful items but were otherwise in terrible shape.) So much of my antique collection is based on what was being printed in places like New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
That's advertising. What I have in packaging is another story because Americans were relying on Britain for things like fine cloth goods and threads. Some of my fanciest labels are English, many embossed with gold. (It makes me want so much to go shopping from a time machine!)
I do have one album of German trade cards, which I'll post about in the future, and I have trade cards from a maker of extracts named Leibig, who printed them in both German and French.
And finally, I have some tobacco (cigar) memorabilia that's printed in Spanish.
Thank you so much, Mark, for taking the time to reply to our comment in such detail. Your collection sounds most interesting and we shall certainly look forward to future posts on related subjects. 'All Things Ruffnerian' is one of the blogs which we greatly enjoy, not least because it is always of interest, is informative, carefully considered and is never anything but highly readable. Thank you so much.
DeleteDear Jane and Lance, your kind words do my heart good. Thank you!
DeleteThose are so wonderful and timeless I think.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Scott. I've worked on a number of projects where solutions have been inspired by antique advertising from my collection, so that timeless quality is really true. As I look at so many of these designs, one thing that strikes me is that the artists of a century ago had deadlines that were so much more generous!
DeleteEven with the latest in technology as represented in these products, it still looks like a lot of work running a farm or house in the 19th Century.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet if you look at either card, it would appear that all that hard work was done while wearing a vest!
DeleteThese Victorian mechanical cards are really attractive and I can well understand why you collect them. Uncle Sam selling to the world is a lovely image.
ReplyDeleteWe have a photograph of H's father transferring hay from a horse drawn wagon on to a hay rick, but with a fork and no mechanical assistance. H says the horse was called smiler, a very large Shire horse, nothing like the two dainty horses shown on your illustration. Curiously both his father and grandfather, also on the picture, are wearing vests, or as we call them waistcoats! Our picture is from about 1942, so we must have been way behind America in our farming techniques.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteHaving such photographs that reflect a family's journey is so valuable for future generations, isn't it? I have an image of a Swiss great-grandfather proudly standing in his vineyard, and when I look at it, I am happy to know that it's a record for my great niece and nephew, four generations removed.
Living in St. Petersburg, I occasionally see archival photographs of Florida fishermen from the early 1900s. I'm always amazed to see them, obviously in sweltering heat, handling big fish all dressed up in long-sleeved shirts, vests and ties. What would they think of cut-off jeans, tube tops and flip flops?
These are true works of art. The days of engraved images and thick cotton rag paper are a thing of the past. Even fiction books will soon disappear due to the introduction of the KIndle and Nook. Hold on to these treasures Mark!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid you might be right, but I can't imagine my own world without books on fine art, and all the books I use for reference! (!!!)
DeleteDear Mark, Visiting with you is always a pleasure and a learning experience. I knew nothing about these wonderful mechanical cards and now, you have enriched my life just a little more. Have a great week. Gina
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gina. Enjoy your breather from fence-mending!
DeleteSo glad I just found your blog through DED. I have never seen those cards, so I'll look for them on one of my rummaging forays. I am a new follower. You might like our new post about the Reynolda Estate in my neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Liz
Hi, Liz! Thanks for becoming a follower! And now I'm on my way to see Reynolda ...
DeleteHi Mark,
ReplyDeleteThe Hayes Products card really caught my eye. GALVA, ILL USA--my old stomping grounds when I was a kid. I'm trying to think of the name of the lake and conservation club near Galva where we used to camp, fish, and swim. You know Galva isn't very big. Just a little bitty town. Wonder what the population was in Galva when Hayes was in business. Do you have a date on the Hayes mechanical card?
Mrs. D
Hi, Mrs. D. -
DeleteIt's a small world, isn't it? The park you're thinking of is probably Wiley Park, named after the founders of Galva. Galva was originally part of the Central Military Tract, a large area of land that was set aside for veterans of the War of 1812. The town was founded in 1852, and the Hayes Pump and Planter Company employed many of the townspeople. At its height, it had 250 workers and more than 3000 dealers around the country. It was in operation past 1919.
Mark these are so interesting, I love the Uncle Sam Card with the International community!
ReplyDelete2012 Artist Series featuring the gifted Decorative Painter Theresa Cheek
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Hello, Karena - I just read your interview with Theresa and enjoyed it, in part because I know she and I have so many shared interests.
Deletehttp://artbykarena.blogspot.com/2012/05/2012-artists-series-featuring-theresa.html
Delete