Crate Label, "Stafford's Blacks Brand Grapes," circa 1930

Lithographers created colorful, eye-catching labels to help sell products. Designs often featured popular themes or motifs; some also reflected the prejudices of the time. Illustrators often depicted African-Americans in comical situations -- like this boy wearing a colander as a hat. These images dehumanized African Americans and affirmed the discriminatory biases many white Americans held.