Trade Card for Domestic Sewing Machine Company, 1880-1900

Summary

Late-nineteenth-century manufacturers used trade cards to promote and sell products. These colorful advertisements also reflected the racial prejudices of the time. Card illustrators typically depicted African Americans with enlarged or distorted features, either wearing colorful clothes or dressed as servants, and often involved in some comical mishap. These depictions affirmed the discriminatory biases that many white Americans -- the consumers of these cards -- held.

Late-nineteenth-century manufacturers used trade cards to promote and sell products. These colorful advertisements also reflected the racial prejudices of the time. Card illustrators typically depicted African Americans with enlarged or distorted features, either wearing colorful clothes or dressed as servants, and often involved in some comical mishap. These depictions affirmed the discriminatory biases that many white Americans -- the consumers of these cards -- held.

Artifact

Trade card

Date Made

1880-1900

Subject Date

1880-1900

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

89.0.541.584

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Printing (Process)

Color

Multicolored

Dimensions

Height: 3 in

Width: 5 in

Connect 3

Discover curious connections between artifacts.

Learn More