Recreation and the Cultured Life

By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a majority of United States citizens had leisure time available to pursue activities that were not centered on making a living and supporting a household. Cultural experiences—art, music, theater—became possible not only for the very rich but also for an emergent upper-middle class. Restaurants and other public establishments welcomed growing numbers. Sports spectatorship and participation flourished. Travel for pleasure encouraged an increasing cosmopolitanism. More rapid communication led to a communal awareness of national and international celebrities and events. Nearly everyone knew about Gilbert and Sullivan, P. T. Barnum, and celebrities such as actress Sarah Bernhardt or operatic star Adelina Patti. Through trade cards, advertisers could deploy images of trendy places and people, tapping into the public’s sense of participation and well-being, while enhancing a product’s cachet.

Travel and Tourism

J.C. Brown trade card, depicting the moonlight regatta

Boating was one of many recreational pastimes enthusiastically embraced by those with sufficient time and money. J.C. Brown, Grocers, touted the appeal of a “Moonlight Regatta off Long Island Light, Boston Harbor.”

Trade card depicting a motoring couple being served a hot beverage

Well before the automobile became a vehicle of everyday transportation, “motoring” was taken up as a new and liberating form of recreation. Just where those steaming cups of tea or coffee came from is not quite clear. This card promoted Big Dandy Bread, made in Chicago.

Leisure time permitted eating out for business or pleasure. Downer Landing at Boston Harbor, as seen in this 1885 card, offered clam bakes on the shore or white tablecloth dining at the Melville Garden.

"Pabst Everywhere!" trade card, depicting ship deck

For the leisured classes, travel by sea was a luxurious indulgence. Service on deck provided, among other amenities, beer from the Pabst brewery in Milwaukee.

Hikes in the wild and scrambling up and over boulders in pursuit of scenic views was an enjoyable pastime. It’s unlikely that intrepid—if still tightly corseted—women such as the two on this 1889 card were a common sight on most mountainsides, but someone thought they could help sell flavor extracts.

Sports for Everyone

Trade card depicting mixed pairs in tennis

Tennis, played on grass, was especially popular, suitable for both men or women—or, as here, for mixed doubles. A&P Baking Powder issued this 1888 card.

Trade card depicting women participating in the sport of sculling

Sculling, associated with fitness and health, was primarily a man’s sport, but this Kennedy Champion Biscuits card makes it apparent that women engaged in it as well.

While some so-called baseball cards featured individual players, others celebrated the game itself. The handsomely uniformed players on this 1888 card are set to argue over an umpire’s call. A&P stores are the advertisers.

"We eat Nudavene Flakes" trade card, depicting a couple sledding downhill

This card, featuring an exciting downhill sledding run, shows a somewhat surprising degree of physical contact between the sexes. Nudavene Flakes is an oat-based breakfast cereal.

G.W. Mandigo, Union Depot Restaurant trade card, depicting indoor bowling

A rare card showing indoor bowling advertises a restaurant in the train depot at Troy, New York.

Leisure Time for Culture

Enterprise Baking Powder trade card, depicting Rembrandt

Many middle-class Victorians placed a high value on education and the pursuit of culture. It is no surprise then that Rembrandt and other famous artists were recruited to help sell Enterprise Baking Powder.

Trade card depicting pig as a sailor on a beach

Fairbank & Co., a major packer of lard and other pork products, used the poetry of Lord Byron to sing the praises of its offerings.

Libby, McNeill & Libby, another meat packer, borrowed Shakespeare to tout its canned corned beef. This card shows evidence of the then generally held view that it was good to be fat and that thinness was a sign of poor health and moral weakness.

"Use Vouwie Bros. Forest City Baking Powder" trade card, depicting a young female painter

For women in the wealthiest families, a degree of proficiency in art and music was highly valued, and by the late nineteenth century, even within the middle classes, cultivating one’s abilities in drawing and painting, playing and singing, was a social necessity. Here, trade cards for baking powder and tea feature these skills and, presumably, called favorable attention to the products being sold.

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Trade Cards: An Illustrated History