Arbuckle Bros Ariosa Coffee — Zoological Series No. 27, “Big-Horn” Original Victorian advertising trade card, chromolithograph, copyright 1890 by Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Co. Approx. 5.10 x 3.05 in. Printed by Knapp & Co. Lith., New York. A bighorn ram and a younger animal bound down a rocky mountain slope, pine woods behind and a pale sky above. Captioned in the lower margin: BIG-HORN (Capra montana). The card is numbered 27 of the series on the reverse. The reverse carries three blocks of text. GRIND YOUR COFFEE AT HOME advises keeping a small coffee-mill in the kitchen and grinding one mess at a time, noting that coffee loses more of its strength and aroma in an hour after grinding than in six months before. An EXPLANATORY panel sets out the series: fifty cards, each showing a true picture drawn and colored by an eminent artist of one of the most interesting specimens of the animal kingdom, with the classical appellation together with the English name. It explains that every package of Arbuckle's Coffee contains either one of these cards or one of a companion series of fifty National Geographical cards, distributed so that each package in a hundred-pound case carries a card different from all the others. A third block promotes ARIOSA COFFEE, and a full list of the fifty animals represented runs down the right-hand side. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Arbuckle sold coffee by making the package worth opening. Fifty animals in one series, fifty maps in another, distributed so that no two packages in a case matched — a child who wanted the complete set had to keep the family buying coffee. It is a loyalty scheme a century before the phrase existed, and it worked well enough that Arbuckle became one of the largest coffee businesses in the country. The reverse contains a small masterpiece of competitive advertising. Arbuckle observes that rival manufacturers, recommending their own goods, have known no higher praise than to say “It's just as good as Arbuckles'.” Quoting your competitors' own words back as proof of your standing is a move that has aged very well. CONDITION Toning and age typical of the period. Creasing and a short split across the upper right of the card; light surface soiling; minor edge and corner wear; toning to the reverse. The chromolithographed image remains bright and the reverse text fully legible. 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-006