Tradecards, considered to precede business cards, were mostly used in all parts of England. A tradecard is about the size of a 3x5 index card and typically has a nice picture with advertising slogan on the front side, and full advertising text (and sometimes testimonials) on the back side.
The earliest forms of tradecards were to be found at the beginning of the 17th century in London. These were used as advertising and also as maps, directing the public to merchant's stores, as there was no formal street numbering system at the time.
The popularity of tradecards soared as they were most effective advertising as newspapers of the time were not well developed and tradecards by directing the reader to a merchant played the similar role to today's online media. The earliest forms of tradecards were printed by the woodcut or letterpress method. By the 18th century, copperplate engraving became the most popular method. Up to the 19th century, tradecards were still done in monotones, or with simple tints. As businesses grew, so did the production and distribution of tradecards. Around 1830, lithography using several colors became an established method in Europe.
During the 19th century new technology and improved speed of communication made the distribution of newspapers and periodicals more practical. Advertising in these media became more affordable and more widespread.
Eventually, tradecards made their way to a New World. By the 1880s, trade cards had become a major way of advertising America's products and services, and a trip to the store usually brought back some of these attractive, brightly-colored cards to be pasted into a scrapbook. Some of the products most heavily advertised by trade cards were in the categories of: medicine, food, tobacco, clothing, household, sewing, stoves, and farm. Tradecards collectors boosted the popularity of the product even more.
Color printing of trade cards did not become widely popular in America until after the Civil War. In 1876, the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition was a major venue for printers to hand out advertising of their card-production services. Though multi-colored cards had been in use for a while, this exhibition acted as a springboard for larger scale use of the multi-color trade card. Almost overnight, trade cards started appearing in every major city in America, especially in the East.
Over the next decade, trade cards began to appear in stores throughout the country. Addressing a wide variety of products from food to sewing machines to horse collars to axle grease, they became for a time nearly omnipresent. Since most households engaged in their own baking, sewing and farming, trade cards relating to these industries were found in great abundance.
Tradecards can be classified into two types:
- Stock: these cards were generic in that they could be applied to any product. The backs were typically blank so they could be printed by the advertiser. And there was usually a blank box on the front for the advertiser to print as well. You run across the same stock card being used by multiple advertisers.
- Custom: produced by/for specific companies who, as a rule, did not share their designs with other firms. These cards often picture the product being advertised.
Around the turn of the 20th century, technological advances made the distribution of newspapers and periodicals more practical and less expensive. Print advertising suddenly became more affordable and more widespread. The number of trade cards being produced started to plummet.
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