I was looking through my collection of Victorian ephemera the other day, and realized that I could present a grouping of soap ads for you.
This trade card for Tulip Soap is approximately 3¾" x 5½", about the size of a post card.
As I mention in my side bar history of
trade cards and early corporate identity, lithography of the 19th century was not like today's 4-color process. Today, this boy's jacket would be achieved by four plates of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink. But when this card was produced, there was a separate plate of maroon ink — just for the jacket. For that reason, the color of Victorian printing is often much more vibrant than anything we would achieve today.
Children in every state of undress appear in Victorian trade cards, which is an interesting phenomenon when one considers that in the same period, the sight of a woman's ankle would have been shocking. I'm sure one could write a whole thesis about that.
I favor collecting trade cards that show the Victorian packaging.
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| Lautz Bros. front |
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| Lautz bros. back |
Often the backs of trade cards have been damaged because Victorians of all ages glued them into scrapbooks. But just as often, the backs are more interesting and revealing than their charming fronts.
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| click to enlarge |
This card was so fragile that I put a backing on it to save its bottom corners. But I had to have it because of the unique subject matter and the great design, which is printed in blue and gold ink.
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These are charming, Mark. Interesting so many of them feature children. Do they symbolize purity and cleanliness? Not always!
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi,
DeleteAt the time these cards were produced, there wasn't a strong sense of corporate identity (sometimes no sense of it), and it would have been just as likely for the image to have been of a vase of flowers or perhaps a rearing horse.
I get into the evolution of corporate identity on my blog's side bar.
So there was magenta and maroon? I'm interested to know and reminded of a book I once read -Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, and wonder how that might figure into the mix. I read the book so long ago that much of it is lost but I recall the invention of mauve was a big deal.
ReplyDeleteHi, Scott,
DeleteNo, they would not necessarily have used magenta and maroon together. The Victorians were working outside the 4-color process, so the inks used on the first image would have been completely different than the inks used on the second image. The inks used would be particular to a design, and I've seen old cigar labels that had as many as 15 plates.
That book on mauve sounds fascinating! I know little about the mauve, except that it was Czarina Alexandra's favorite color.
Very interesting Mark...great point on the colors in printing in the Victorian era, that Maroon looks like you can reach out and touch the velvet!
ReplyDelete2013 Designers Series
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Hi, Karen,
DeleteI don't think the computer screen can do justice to the vivid colors that were used in 19th century printing. I have a lithograph of a red bird in my kitchen, which is quite startling (the lithograph, not the kitchen)!
i wish our adds today were 1/2 as interesting, let alone collectible. Can you imagine someone keeping a scrapbook of todays ads?
ReplyDeleteHi, Stefan,
DeleteI think part of that equation is that today we're so over-inundated with information of all types. The Victorians, on the other hand, were used to printed material that was primarily in black and white, so when these lithographed cards came along, they were really treasured.
In the course of collecting these, I occasionally come across cards with pin holes, and I am touched to realize that somebody decorated their wall by pinning a little ad to it.
Hello Mark, Even with the cheap labor of the 19th century, it's amazing that they could give away these miniature lithographed works of art with bars of soap--let alone a towel! Additionally, the boxes and wrappers of that period were often of an equally high quality.
ReplyDeleteHello, Jim,
DeleteYou are right that a HUGE part of 19th century advertising had to do with premiums, and that was true right up to the Great Depression, when china and glass were given away at movie theaters.
I would say that my impulse to collect ephemera stems from three incentives — a glimpse into another era, beautiful or strange designs, and as you mention, high quality. You'd be surprised how much advertising I have that's literally gilded.
My neighborhood was filled with soap factories in the mid-19th Century and many of the small homes are referred to as soapworker's cottages; in fact, if you google soapworker's cottages, you'll find the two houses across the street from me that are on the National Historic Register as being the first examples of company-sponsored housing. So there are quite a few soap trade cards that crop up on ebay in my saved search for Cambridgeport and, you're right, they often show very cherubic, half-naked children. But none are as nice as the examples you've shown.
ReplyDeleteWhile you were leaving your comment here, I was looking at your blog and googling the name "Steve" because I had never known it meant crown. So I learned several things from you today.
DeleteThat's very interesting about the company-sponsored housing originating so near you. It must have been a very progressive idea at the time.
The observation of Victorian advertising employing half-naked children is notable also because they so often have very coy expressions.
Dear Mark, Sweet images, the kind we treasured as children. One of our favorite pastimes was collecting and exchanging similar images. Our portfolios were forever changing.
ReplyDeleteHi, Gina - Were you collecting advertising or packaging, or pictures from magazines — I'm curious to know?
DeleteHello Mark, None of the above. They were different kinds of things. I don't know what they are called. Some were shiny, glossy outfits for paper dolls, some were beautifully printed and glossy images of pretty ladies, flowers, children and sweet animals. we had books with pockets and each image fit into a pocket. I remember negotiating for some that I just had to have requiring to part with several of my paper images to close the deal. Some of the images were pricelss, in a world (East Germany right after the war)that was grey and ugly.
ReplyDeleteI am so intrigued by your description! It sounds very visually exciting.
DeleteThe closest that I came to what you're describing was when I discovered, as a kid, a company that sold a huge inventory of original Victorian die cut scraps that had been found in a New England barn. It was was an ephemera collector's dream-come-true, and now that I think about it, those early purchases may have unconsciously started me on the path to collecting antique advertising.
Dear Mark, No doubt about it. You came across a treasure at an early age and you remember how you felt at the time.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy Sunday.
What was it with those mad Victorians and naked children? Maybe I should rephrase that. What was it with those mad Victorians and unclothed children? You are so right, Mark. A thesis should be written and probably has. I immediately think of Lewis Carroll and his Alice obsession.
ReplyDeleteBut you know, it wasn't just the Victorians. Early magazine covers from Edwardian years until, I'd say, maybe the thirties, often show unclothed kids and adults. i.e. the gorgeous art of J.C. Leyendecker and others. Were they simply more sophisticated then? Or maybe they were just more innocent about nudity in public. Maybe they saw it as art, pure and simple?
Thanks for another interesting post. I'll bet you could easily turn your house into a very personal museum. Wait. Now that I think on it, this blog is probably serving as your museum. :)
Dear Yvette,
DeleteI've always guessed that the Victorians accepted "artistic" nudity in children as a group release from all their other hang-ups. But I could be wrong. That's why we need to get a big fat grant and answer the question once and ofr all.
There are some people who have likened my house to a museum, and I'm okay with that. Actually, of late I've been culling the relics and lightening the load.