More Trade Cards Of Old London
July 2, 2024
Click here to book THE GENTLE AUTHOR’S TOUR for Saturday
.
Today it is my pleasure to show this selection of old London trade cards discovered by searching down the back of a hypothetical sofa and under a hypothetical bed. Especially noteworthy are the cards for Lacroix’s and Peter De la Fontaine which are the early work of William Hogarth.
Images courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
You may like to see my original selection
3 Responses
leave one →
Often heard the word Chimbley years ago, but always thought it was someone just being funny. I can see now that it was a ‘real word’.
These trade cards are wonderful and how fantastic that someone saw fit to keep them. Sadly, I have no such treasures behind my sofa cushions, only dust.
I’m obsessed. And envious. As much as I “thought” I liked my own business card, I see how
woefully inadequate it really is. It lacks the atmospheric story-telling, not to mention the
gorgeous flowing typography of these examples. I was scanning through, lost in thought about the book sellers………and then my eye caught the mention of “papier mache” and THEN I was totally
sidetracked. I imagine entering the shop, taking in the unmistakeable aroma of printed papers, and ducking through a draped doorway, to find the workroom full of sample books, curls and snippets of various papers, towers of boxes waiting to be covered, and trimmings. (Oh how I would love to examine the “mock India paper”, indeed. Just imagine the array of colors and patterns?) Big wooden work tables, high stools, bins of supplies, perhaps a ladder. “The Nobility may be served……….”
(gasp) ………. alas, I am not worthy. All of these imaginings spurred by a tiny trade card. Sigh.