Advertising Poster for The Cooks Baking Powder, Banner Baking Powder Co., circa 1900

Manufacturers around the turn of the 20th century used colorful posters to help sell their products. Many of these advertisements also reflected the racial prejudices of the time. Illustrators typically depicted African Americans with enlarged or distorted features, speaking with stereotypical language and often involved in some comical mishap. These images dehumanized blacks and affirmed the discriminatory biases many white Americans held.