Antiques
Collecting Trade Cards

Trade cards are a type of collectible that can fit in everyone's budget. Some can sell for under one dollar. Rare ones can sell in the thousands.
Trade cards were most popular during the Victorian era, but they were already being used in the 18th century. On their website, the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester states that "although there is no concrete definition of a trade card, it is generally a printed notice of goods for sale or services available for the public." Large copper engravings similar to those used by newspapers were first used to advertise businesses. Trade cards were later created that could be produced on a smaller "card" press. One of the first printers was Samuel Dickinson, who printed the "Boston Almanac." The Antiquarian Society's website states that they have over 15,000 trade cards in their collection dating back to 1749. One of the trade cards in their collection is from Paul Revere.
Much later in the next century, trade cards had their "hey day." Cornell University's website and other sources attribute their increased popularity to Louis Prang. Prang introduced a prize winning, full colored lithograph trade card at the Vienna International Exposition in 1873. He returned to the United States and printed them commercially. By the mid-1870's, many manufacturers and other businesses were using the cards to promote their businesses. The early versions were printed with blank space. This allowed businesses to place their name and location in that area when they ordered them from traveling salesmen.
Trade cards became so popular with consumers that they began to be included in product packaging as a premium. Card designs improved. Die-cut cards in the shape of people, animals, and products such as teacups and even pickles were produced. Figures of the time also appeared on trade cards. Presidents, war heroes, actresses, sports figures, and stereotypical caricatures all appeared on trade cards.
Trade cards lost their appeal in the early 1900's though. Printing technology improved and large-scale color printing became commonplace in magazines and elsewhere.
Trade cards remain popular with collectors today. We sold two notebooks, each with a little over 20 pages of plastic sleeves of trade cards, in our August auction. One brought $250 and the other sold for $400. Ten clipper ship trade cards sold for $7,500 in a 2008 auction. A 1901 Coca Cola trade card sold for $1,800, an 1892 Coca Cola version went for $2,500, and an 1893 Coke trade card reached $4,250 in other sales. A trade card from the magician "the Great Hermann" and "Adelaide" sold for over $4,000 in 2015. Trade cards advertising mechanical banks can sometimes bring as much as the banks themselves. A "Darktown Battery" bank and a "Picture Gallery" bank trading card each brought $8,000, providing the consignors with plenty of cash to deposit in their own banks.
It was nice meeting some regular readers of this column at my night class, the Auburn Public Library, and the Finnish Heritage Society in Rutland. I'll be back at the Auburn Library appraising items on October 5th. I'll also be lecturing at the Worcester Senior Center on October 16th from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM. I'll be at the Shrewsbury Historical Society on October 23rd for an appraisal event. We have an online auction currently running in Woodstock, CT featuring recreational vehicles, A Kubota tractor, 2005 Victory motorcycle, household items and furnishings. Please see www.centralmassauctions.com for details on these and other events.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111), info@centralmassauctions.com
Talking Sports
Enough?
When will it be too much? When will you have had enough? For those of you who are Patriots fans, was the signing of Antonio Brown a bridge too far? Or do his alleged off-the-field behaviors and his very real-life despicable texts not matter as long as he produces? And if they don't matter, explain that to your mom, wife, sister, daughter, grand-daughter or for that matter anyone. And if they don't matter, maybe you should ask yourself why the Patriots mean that much to you in the first place.
Some years ago, when Ray Rice was accused of domestic violence, I wrote in this very column I couldn't see myself continuing as a Ravens fan if he was still on the roster. They did the right thing and cut him. The Ravens cut guys who get traffic tickets. That's the kind of organization I can root for even though I wasn't thrilled about the political machinations which brought the Browns to Baltimore in the first place. Sweetheart deals on rent aren't the same thing as having a thug like Brown on the team. It's true he's been neither convicted or even charged with a crime, but those texts expose him as a miserable human being. A lot of the Patriots are stand-up guys and a credit to the community but if Bob Kraft means what he said last winter about all the respect he claims to have for women , he sure has a funny way of showing it.
Sports, like life in general, is full of sometimes shady doings. Last April, future Triple Crown winner Justify tested positive after winning the race which qualified him for the Kentucky Derby in the first place. By rule, the colt should have been disqualified and the winning purse redistributed. That would've meant he would not have had enough points to run if the Derby drew a full field of 20 horses. The drug which was found in his system, and that of other horses the same day though more of it was in his, has been said by some to be a stimulant, though that's not entirely clear. The stuff is often found in hay or straw and so it's quite possible he ingested it with absolutely no nefarious intent.
But even so, the California Horse Racing Board covered it up. The manager of the syndicate in whose name Justify raced was made aware but he didn't say anything. The CHRB claimed it didn't get a full report for four months and yet Elliot Walden, the aforementioned syndicate manager, knew about it within days, and this was a couple weeks prior to the Derby.
Justify tested clean in all three Triple Crown races and it's obviously not the colt's fault he ate that hay. But the CHRB was 100-percent wrong in failing to follow their own rules and lo and behold, the Board's chair at the time owned horses trained by Justify's trainer Bob Baffert. The CHRB denies none of this. It acknowledges the horse had something in his system he shouldn't have had. Yet it did nothing. In a year when racing's image has taken multiple hits, this sure doesn't help. Does this taint Justify's Triple Crown since he really shouldn't have been eligible? Personally, I'd attach to him the same asterisk I attach to Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Others might not. That's just me. I'll have to ask my sister, but I don't think we ever had any horse come back positive. If they had, they'd have been disqualified and rightly so. The same should have been done with Justify.
One more story. Vice-President Mike Pence said last week he was bitten when he visited American Pharoah in Kentucky. By all accounts, AP is as sweet as sugar. Neither Baffert nor anyone who's ever been around him, and there have been who-knows-how-many selfies taken with him since 2015, ever reported being bitten, ever, and those who were there that day recall no such incident. It's hard to hide it if you've actually been chomped on by a thoroughbred race horse. I write from experience. Just saying.