Advertising Ephemera
David's Prize Soap chromolithograph trade card, between 1876 and 1899. Advertising Ephemera Collection.
Within the Advertising Ephemera Collection, Baker Library holds more than 8,000 trade cards, over 1,100 of which are available in digital form, representing the full range of products and businesses advertised through this medium from the 1870s through the 1890s. The Bates Trade Card Collection includes an additional 500 trade cards, primarily from companies in the Boston area, some of which are housed in original scrapbooks. Both the Advertising Ephemera and Bates Collections include souvenir publications, almanacs, brochures, business cards, novelty items, scrapbooks, and advertising posters.
Over 1,100 of Baker Library's trade cards have been digitized and are available through the Harvard Library catalog HOLLIS Images.