Trade Cards from Early Grand Rapids Businesses
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Grand Rapids, Michigan — currently the second largest city in the state — was incorporated in 1850. Its location along the Grand River allowed the city to flourish throughout the late 1800s. Back then, trade cards were a popular medium for advertising goods and services. This set of trade cards — ranging from the sentimental to the comical to the more straightforward — highlights entrepreneurial companies in Grand Rapids during this time.
Trade Card with Menu for Grand Union Cafe, Sunday, December 9th, 1883
Trade Card, Foster, Stevens & Co., Carry a Full Line of Roller Skates, 1870-1890
After pioneering the hardware trade in Grand Rapids with the company Foster & Parry (1845), Wilder D. Foster became a mainstay in the hardware industry and served as mayor of Grand Rapids three different times. In 1873, Foster formed a new business, Foster, Stevens & Co., offering extensive hardware, house furnishings, and even sporting goods — including roller skates, as mentioned here.
Trade Card for Gourlay Brothers & Co., Shirt Makers and Importers Men's Furnishing Goods, 1875-1890
During the 1850s, the ready-made clothing industry expanded rapidly. With the introduction of sewing machines, garments like men's shirts could be made much faster than by hand — with factories turning out many hundreds of shirts daily. Gourlay Brothers & Company was established in Detroit in 1875 by Scottish immigrants Alfred and James Gourlay. A successful men's shirt manufacturer, they expanded to the growing city of Grand Rapids.
Trade Card for Chase Brothers Pianos, Chase Bros. Piano Co., 1889-1900
Trade Card for Harvey & Heystek, 1893-1900
Trade Card for Granite Ironware, St. Louis Stamping Co., "For Kitchen and Table Use," 1884
In the 1860s, William Gunn established the Gunn Hardware Company. Along with manufacturing tin and sheet iron, the company offered a variety of builders' tools and hardware. In addition to these, the company sold house furnishings, like cooking and heating stoves, as well as kitchen equipment, including granite ironware — that is, metal products coated with enamel that resembled granite.
Trade Card for Clothing, Tower Clothing Co., circa 1885
Trade Card for Calla Lily Roller Flour, Star Roller Mills, 1880-1900
Trade Card for Triumph Corn Planter with Pumpkin Seed Attachment, A. C. Kent Company, circa 1885
In 1872, Arthur C. Kent patented and manufactured the Kent Triumph hand corn planter and soon his company, the A.C. Kent Company, became one of the most successful agricultural equipment manufacturers of the 19th century. Kent's equipment was sold across the country by regional and city retailers — including the establishment of Samuel Fox, which sold agricultural implements and carriages in Grand Rapids.
Trade Card for Men's and Boy's Clothing, Star Clothing Cooperative Co., 1880-1900
Trade Card for the Household Sewing Machine Company, 1895
Trade Card for Matchless Flour, Valley City Milling Co., 1894-1923
Trade Card for Quick Meal Gasoline Stoves, 1882-1901
The Quick Meal Stove Company, founded in 1881 in St. Louis, Missouri, became known as American Stove Company (and later Magic Chef) in 1901. It gained notoriety in the late 1910s as the first to offer the Lorain oven heat regulator — forerunner to the temperature dials we see today — ensuring consistent and accurate oven temperatures. Quick Meal brand stoves were sold across the country, including at Vanderveen & Witman in Grand Rapids.
