1880s Trade Card Arm & Hammer Soda Beautiful Flowers No. 39 Fuchsia New York — A small Arm & Hammer flower card: a spray of fuchsias, pink, red, white and deep purple, hanging from a curling stem with broad green leaves, on a cream ground. Approx. 1.85 x 2.95 in.

DESCRIPTION
A small Arm & Hammer flower card: a spray of fuchsias, pink, red, white and deep purple, hanging from a curling stem with broad green leaves, on a cream ground. At lower left is the round Arm & Hammer Brand trademark, "Church & Co. New York", with the arm and hammer at center. Printed at the foot: "Fuchsia" and "39".

The back is printed in black: "New Series / Beautiful Flowers / No. 39", with the note that the card "has no connection with any Lottery, and does not draw a prize" and that "The perfect quality of the Arm & Hammer Brand of Soda and Saleratus is sufficient inducement for all intelligent consumers to BUY ONLY THAT BRAND." A set of 60 could be had by mail for "six two cent stamps". Under "Important Reasons" it argues for package soda over bulk soda "weighed and wrapped by the dealer". Imprint: "The Great Arm & Hammer Brand Soda and Saleratus, 129 Pearl St. New York", with the round Church & Co. trademark. Printer: "Beacon Lith. Co. Boston." A few words at the top of the back are covered by an old piece of paper (see Condition).

Approx. 1.85 x 2.95 in.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A brand older than the box. The Arm & Hammer name and logo date back to the 1860s. Church & Co., whose name is on this card, later joined with John Dwight & Co. as Church & Dwight in 1896, and the arm and hammer is still on the box today.

Collect all sixty. The back says it plainly: a set of these cards, 60 in all, "accumulated in the ordinary course of buying housekeeping supplies will form an interesting collection." Arm & Hammer flower, bird and animal series were saved in albums by the thousands, and collectors still build the sets number by number.

Package versus bulk. The back also makes a case that sounds modern: buy the sealed, branded package, not soda scooped from the grocer's barrel, because the brand carries "the guarantee of a responsible manufacturer."

For the garden collector. The fuchsia, drawn in four colors from bud to full bloom, makes this a natural fit for botanical and flower collectors as well as advertising collectors.

CONDITION
Used, with honest age wear. Front: bright color; light soiling and a few small grey specks in the cream margin and on the leaves; a small tan strip of old paper residue at the top edge; corners lightly rounded. Back: an old piece of blue-green paper or tape about 0.6 in. wide is stuck at top center, covering part of the heading and first lines; a small dark spot at the left edge; even toning. Please see the photos, which are part of the description.

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.

The back is printed in black letterpress-style type, separate from the color work on the front.

PROVENANCE
From my family's estate collections, built over more than 60 years by knowledgeable antiques collectors and traders. Stored in a climate-controlled environment.

ALSO IN OUR STORE
More Arm & Hammer cards in our store: https://www.ebay.com/str/tfauctionsintl?_nkw=arm+hammer
More Victorian advertising trade cards for baking soda, coffee and patent medicines are in our store.

Please visit TF Auctions Intl: https://www.ebay.com/str/tfauctionsintl

DISCLAIMER
The images and any video show the actual item and are part of the official listing description, so please review them closely. Measurements and weights are approximate, and any maker or material we haven't confirmed is described as assumed. Questions? Message us; we answer quickly.

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