Victorian Trade Cards

In the last few decades of the 1800s, many companies handed out trade cards to potential customers. Often these were pre-printed designs that had very little to do with the products, but were designed to catch a potential buyer's eye. There was a box where the store's name and address could be printed.

Some of the larger companies created trade cards just for their products, and many of these companies are still around today. This Hires Root Beer card is a good example. Some of the claims about the effects of the products were funny and even blatantly false, but there was very little regulation.

Hires claimed that their root beer was "steeped in extracts from healthful roots." 

This Quaker Oats ad was from a booklet showing circus performing grasshoppers. Nothing like anthropomorphic insects to get you excited about a bowl of oatmeal!











Many of the advertisements are truly pieces of art, with high quality graphics and artwork.