The Case:
A contributor in Parkersburg, West Virginia owns what seems to be an extraordinary piece of memorabilia: a pocket-sized card apparently dated 1886 advertising a strange-sounding beverage. The card depicts an image of a female model and a printed rhyming verse which begins:
One very sultry, summer day
Through Atlanta, toiled on his way
A lawyer, overcome with heat,
His lips could only just repeat,
Coco-Cola…
Trade cards were a popular vehicle for tradespersons to advertise their wares and often included entertaining poems and colorful illustrations. Could this card be a unique piece of early Coca-Cola advertising?
History Detectives heads to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta to trace the legacy of the soft drink empire and examine its influential role in American commerce and advertising.
Trade Cards
See some examples of Trade Cards from the collection of the Library of Congress.
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Advertisement for Acorn Stoves and Ranges (circa 1886)
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Advertisement for Acorn Stoves and Ranges (circa 1886)
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Advertisement for Acorn Stoves and Ranges (circa 1886)
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Advertisement for Acorn Stoves and Ranges (circa 1886)
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Advertisement for Edwin C. Burt shoes (1881 or 1882)
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"Queen of the Laundry" soap advertisement (circa 1880)
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Advertisement for laundry starch (circa 1880)
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