Trade card describes small cards, similar to the visiting cards exchanged in social circles, that businesses would distribute to clients and potential customers. Trade cards first became popular at the beginning of the 17th century in London. These functioned as advertising and also as maps, directing the public to merchants' stores, as no formal street address numbering system existed at the time.
The trade card is an early example of the modern business card. Some businesses began to create increasingly sophisticated designs, especially with the development of color printing. A few 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. As the designs became more attractive and colorful, collecting trade cards became a popular hobby in the late 19th century, since color images were not yet widely available.
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. By moving into the realm of collecting, 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 companies featuring baseball players, later developed into collectibles and lost their function as a business advertisement.
 Lithographed trade card advertising Murray & Lanman Florida Water Cologne |
 Back of a german Liebig Extract of Meat Trade Card from 1885 |
 Early 19th-century English-language trade card of John Maria Farina, cologne manufacturer, showing Farina Haus, Köln. |
See also
External links
- Victorian Tradecards
- Brooklyn Public Library: Fulton Street Trade Card Collection
- Catalogue of heraldic tobacco and trading cards
- Iowa Digital Library: Victorian Trade Cards Digital Collection
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 31 December 2008, at 11:12.
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