These were essentially advertising cards. They started appearing with chromolithographed pictures in the 1880s and were issued with a product or by a store. (Trade cards printed in black and white, with or without pictures, go back another couple of hundred years). Subjects covered everything from cotton thread to the sewing machine it was used on, from stoves to soaps & starches, perfumes to pianos & organs.

Many are now available in reprint postcard format although all images reproduced here are from originals