Old Ads Exhibit
Dr. Kilmer’s “Ocean Weed” Heart Remedy
And 187 Other Items Your Great, Great Grandparents
Couldn’t Do Without!
The Warren County History Center held an exhibit, “Let’s Advertise”, of 19th Century ad cards from the collection of Thomas H. Davis. The exhibit is on loan from the Museum of Arts and Sciences of Daytona, Florida from September 1 through November 9, 2009.
Mr. Davis, a graphic artist by trade, has put together 50 panels of these beautifully illustrated full color stone lithography advertising cards. His great grandparents and grandparents collected the cards and stored them away from many years. The cards are in wonderful condition and tell the story of the wants and needs of Americans in the late 19th century. Pictured in full color are ads for everything from Mitchell’s Kidney Plasters to Ayers Sarsaparilla to cruises on the White Star Line.
Printed and distributed before there were laws for truth in advertising, the cards are a wonderful short history of the social and economics conditions of the time. Some claims were modest, others outrageous, but all the ads are distinguished by the beautifully illustrated color lithography so popular at the time.
Sponsors of the exhibit included the Warren County Foundation and Mrs. Ruth Pierce.
Please see Remarks File at bottom of this section.
DOCENT NOTES
“Let’s Advertise” Exhibit of Nineteenth Century Ad Cards
BACKGROUND -Between 1860 and 1898 Tom Davis Great Grandparents and Grandparents saved ad cards that were given free by merchants to advertise the products and services of manufacturers and tradespeople. These colorful cards were treasured. If one could not afford actual paintings, color images of any kind would be absent from the home. Fortunately, the cards were kept in boxes and are in mint condition. In total there are more than 400 cards representing 35 products and services. 156 cards have been selected for the exhibit.
In many cases the copy is as interesting as the illustration. Product claims and descriptions show the absence of any government oversight. Manufacturers could say anything they wished about their products and did especially concerning medicines and “cure-all’s”. Most claimed they would cure everything from “ladies complaints” to “cancer”. Most were a combination of water, cocaine, sugar and alcohol which probably gave quick relief but had little or no curative powers. Teeth filled for 50 cents and pulled for 25 cents is a lesson in 19th century economics. Insurance companies collected premiums once a week going door-to-door. Policies started as low as 3 cents a week. For 5 cents a week a person could receive at death a whopping 14 dollars.
There is a beautiful card for Hires Root Beer which was in paste form sold in tubes. The paste was mixed with water, five gallons for 25 cents. That’s 80, 8 ounce glasses for $0.003 cents per glass. It is featured as a “temperance” drink that had medicinal qualities.
The cards indicate that there was a fascination for “Philadelphia” as numerous cards mention the name in connection with their product or service. For instance Dentists call their office “Philadelphia Dental Rooms” with no mention of why they are so named.
An unusual feature of most of the cards, with one exception, is that the artist is never mentioned yet it required tremendous talent and patience to prepare the stones. The exception is a very beautiful picture by Thomas Faed of Scotland. I have never seen a card with an artist signature.
A card advertising White Star Steamship Lines places emphasis on “steerage class” passengers. This is the cheapest fare and was aimed at the lower class of people seeking a better life in the United States. “Perfect ventilation” indicated that these cabins were deep within the ship. The cards were distributed in the US to encourage people to send to Germany and Central Europe for their relatives.
All of the manufacturers of the period made outlandish claims for their products but one beats them all. Makers of a heart remedy claim that it will “relieve and cure” shock or sudden death! They claim it costs nothing to try it…what have you got to lose if you are dead? I am surprised it hasn’t caught on.
“For medicinal use only” is the theme of a Kentucky whiskey card. It states that its use is recommended by leading Doctors. At the time no prescription was required to purchase whiskey which was sold in the drug store. The message was probably calculated to legitimize drinking by women.
Many of the cards of the period placed emphasis on courting and romance. On one two ladies are discussing the merits of older, wealthy men. Personal attraction was a concern because at the time people went to a doctor or dentist only when a serious problem occurred. No one bathed usually more than once a week or even had modern facilities to do so.
Today, would the wife of the President of the United States permit her portrait to be used as an ad by a beer company? Grover Cleveland’s wife did. Interestingly, she is referred to as “Mrs. President Cleveland”. For twelve label coupons a person could receive a 19″ x 25″ color portrait. This would have been highly desirable in a household where color wall decor, such as paintings, would be unaffordable. Keep in mind that color photography had yet to be developed.
Colored people have always been associated with music. 18th and 19th century blacks had little else of pleasure in their lives. Much of our greatest music comes from these people who suffered through terrible times. In studying these card images one can see the great gap between blacks and whites that existed at the time. They are never very “flattering” even when the black person is promoting the manufacturers product.
LITHOGRAPHY -In principle the invention of lithography was a simple thing. In reality it was huge. The lithography process of printing was developed in Germany in 1798 by Aloys Senefelder. Lithography involves a flat surface on which the printing area is no higher than the non-printing area. The process depends on the mutual repulsion of grease and water. Senefelder found that if a drawing were made on a flat surface of limestone with a greasy crayon, the lines would attract and hold an oily or greasy ink when the stone was wet, whereas other portions of the stone would take no ink. The drawing could then be reproduced on a suitable piece of paper rolled into contact with the stone.
Fine grain porous stone from Bavaria was, and still is, the choice surface for stone litho printing. The printing surface is hand ground, using various sizes of Carborundum grits, until it is smooth and clean. All traces of the polishing medium must be washed off after which the stone is allowed to dry completely.
The artist then draws the image directly onto the dry stone using a greasy crayon or ink. When the crayon or ink, has dried completely the stone is ready for printing. A separate stone is required for each color to be printed.
The first step in the printing process is to wet the stone with water. The water will not affect the greasy image area. The non-printing area of the porous limestone will “hold” the water and stay uniformly wet to repel the ink.
Once the stone is wet, a greasy type of ink is rolled onto the stone. The ink will adhere only to the greasy image area. Once the image is “inked” the stone is ready for printing. Paper is pressed directly onto the stone producing a printed image. Any color of ink may be used.
Today’s high speed litho presses still employ the exact same principle discovered by Senefelder except in place of the stone, aluminum alloy plates
are the norm. The surface of the plate is etched to hold the water in the same way the stone does. The plate is coated with a light sensitive material on which the image is “burned”. The area of the coating that was not “burned” is then washed off the plate. The process is photographic eliminating the tedious hand drawing. The light sensitive material burned on the plate will attract and hold the greasy ink. To prevent excessive wetting of the paper as it travels through the press at high speeds the image is transferred to a separate roller then to the paper. This is called “offset” printing.
To appreciate the significance of lithography you have to realize that the only way images or letters could be reproduced on a mass scale was by “raised” printing methods. Typography letters and images were hand cut or cast into molds to produce a raised surface that would accept the ink. The photo process of color separation had yet to be invented. There was no way to duplicate a color picture other than crude “block print” methods. When artists could draw directly on a stone surface, in the finest of detail without having to carve away the non-printing areas, the area of color printing was born. Artists developed a system of solid lines and areas and dots of various sizes and spacing to create an unlimited range of color values. It didn’t matter if one color printed over another, the dots could blend the colors so that the eye would see smooth color transition. These techniques are shown in detail in enlargements of several cards.
Today, color images are reproduced photographically using color filters to separate the colors. Using “process” colors of cyan, yellow, magenta and black all colors can be reproduced on only four plates whereas stone lithographers used as many as 30 colors to reproduce an image. While today’s process plates can be made in minutes, it was not unusual for stone lithographers to spend four to five months preparing the stones. (Plates)
Tom Davis.
GLOSSARY OF SOME MEDICAL TERMS USED IN THE 19TH CENTURY
CATARRH -Inflamation of mucous membrane. One chronically affecting the human nose and air passages.
ELIXIR -A substance held capable of prolonging life indefinitely. A sweetened liquid usually containing alcohol that is used as a vehicle for medicinal agents.
APERIENT -Laxative.
DYSPEPSIA -Indigestion.
SELTZER -An artificially prepared mineral water containing carbon dioxide.
PHOSPHATE -An effervescent drink of carbonated water with a small amount of phosphoric acid or and acid phosphate flavored with fruit syrup.
SARSAPARILLA -Any of various tropical American greenbriers. The dried roots of sarsaparilla used as a flavoring. A sweetened carbonated beverage flavored with birch oil and sassafras.
SCROFULA -Swellings of the lymph glands of the neck. Tuberculosis of the lymph glands in the neck.
SALT RHEUM -A salty watery discharge from the mucous membranes of the eyes or nose. Tears.
NEURALGIA -Acute pain radiating along the course of one or more nerves.
HUMOR -A fluid or juice of animal or plant. One of the four fluids entering into the constitution of the body and determining by their relative proportions a person’s health and temperament.
CONSUMPTION -A progressive wasting away of the body. Especially from pulmonary tuberculosis.
FLATULENCE -Marked by or affected with gases generated in the intestine or stomach.
AGUE -A fever. A chill marked by paroxysms of chills, fever and sweating that recur at regular intervals.
ALTERATIVE -A drug used empirically to alter favorably the course of an ailment.
SANATIVE -Having the power to cure or heal.
SCROFULOUS -Having a diseased appearance.
MARASMUS -Progressive emaciation especially in the young associated faulty assimilation and utilization of food.
EMACIATION -To cause to lose flesh so as to become very thin.
PECTORAL -Coming from in or on the breast or heart.
ANODYNE -Serving to assuage pain.
VERMIFUGE -Serving to destroy or dispel parasitic worms.
