Red Cross Cough Drops — Five Cents per Box Original Victorian advertising trade card, chromolithograph on an embossed and gilded ground, c. 1880s-90s. Approx. 4.35 x 2.95 in. A small girl in a fringed cape and a deep pink bonnet walks a garden path, a basket on one arm, looking back over her shoulder. The scene sits in an inset panel surrounded by white and yellow daisies that spill across the card. Above it a circular device carries the trademark: a red cross, RED CROSS COUGH DROPS, and 5 CTS PER BOX. The reverse is blank. HISTORICAL CONTEXT A nickel a box, and the card cost the maker a good deal more to produce than the profit on the first sale. That arithmetic only works if the card stays in the house, and this one was built to — embossed, gilded, and prettier than most things a family owned. The daisies and the child have nothing to do with a sore throat. They were not supposed to. The card's job was to be kept, and a picture worth keeping put the name in front of you every time you opened the album. CONDITION Toning and age typical of the period. The embossing and gilding remain crisp with light rubbing to the high points; minor edge and corner wear; light surface soiling. Colors remain strong. Blank reverse with toning. Please view the images carefully. ABOUT THE PRINTING This is an original chromolithograph, and it was slow, exacting work. Each color had to be drawn onto its own separate stone by hand — in monochrome, the artist judging how much stipple each area needed so the colors would combine correctly only once every stone had been printed. The sheet then went through the press once for every color it carries, often a dozen or more, and every pass had to register exactly against the last. A pass out of register showed. Under magnification the image resolves into irregular hand-drawn stipple, each ink carrying its own dot pattern, the colors mixing in the eye rather than on the paper. There is no regular halftone screen and no four-color rosette, which is what a modern reproduction would show. Modern process printing simulates every color from four inks; chromolithography laid each color down as its own. PROVENANCE This item comes from the personal collections of my family estate, accumulated over more than 200 years — including items that came west by wagon train to Colorado and later to Oklahoma. Now that my parents have passed we cannot keep all of these cherished items. They were well-educated antiques collectors/traders and continued to build their collections over more than 60 years. The vast majority of the pieces are from the Victorian Era, however there are plenty of older and newer items. Everything has been stored in a climate-controlled environment over time. DISCLAIMER Specifications and detailed item descriptions are provided as a courtesy only and are not guaranteed to be one hundred percent accurate. Please do your own research. There are generally no receipts available for any items from original purchases. Any dimensions and/or weights are approximate. The absence of a more detailed condition report does not imply there are no condition issues with the item(s). Please inspect images carefully as they are part of the official item description and best representation of the actual condition. Additional images may be available upon request depending on time and availability. Not responsible for internet mis-translations or mis-identification of maker's marks if found or assumptions of makers or materials — item descriptions will indicate if it is assumed. If you see a problem, please message us immediately and we will do our best to sort out a solution and confirm the information. With the exception of eBay rules, no returns are accepted. Ref#ADV-004