Description
Black Americana Merchant Trade Card Advertising Owl Laundry
Dating to the last quarter of the 19th century. Single sided, vibrant colour, exaggerated black caricature promoting ‘Owl Laundry’. Locally produced as the address only lists the street not city or state. Thorp & Birch Proprietors.
Black Americana trade cards refers to advertising trade cards or promotional ads of the 19th century that contain stereotypically racist images of African Americans. The images reflected the cultural roles and values of American life, unfortunately many trade cards were derogatory, caricatured depictions of race, ethnicity, national identity, class, and gender, highlighting the anxiety and bigotry within white, Anglo-American society. And in these cases particularly, the popular trade cards not only reflected but also perpetuated insidious stereotypes. Even though these trade cards were exaggerated depictions, they also exhibited a sense of truth to the kind of treatment that these targeted groups endured.
