Original Trade Card - "Clark's O.N.T Spool Cotton; Milward's Helix Needles and Marshall's Linen Threads. For Sale Everywhere."

Original trade card with a color illustration of a scenic mountain landscape, town, and river. A young girl leads the donkey in the bucolic landscape where another spool sits in the foreground. ***Two copies available: one has slightly less wrinkling than the other but has a former owner's signature on back in blue colored pencil; the other copy has no markings from a former owner but has a bit more wrinkling.*** No date, circa 1880s-1910s. 7 1/2" x 5." Trade card is very clean and intact overall except for age toning on front and back, bumped corners, and a few wrinkles. A Very Good copy. Trade card promoting Clark's O.N.T. Spool Cotton as well as other sewing products such as Clark's O.N.T. Crochet Cotton, O.N.T. Darning Cotton, Milward's Helix Needles, and Marshall's Linen Threads are also advertised. Printed by "Forbes Co., Boston." The emphasis appears to be on Clark's products. The Clark Thread Company was founded during the 1750s by brothers James Clark and Patrick Clark in Paisley, Scotland. Paisley became well-known for its manufacture of Kashmir or Paisley shawls. In the 1840s, Clark began sending commercial agents to the United States. With success in Scotland and abroad, different branches were formed. The American branch opened in 1879 and was called Clark & Company. The Clark Thread Company enjoyed many years of success. It eventually merged with the British thread company, J. & P. Coats, in 1952. Trade cards are antique business cards that first became popular during the late seventeenth century in Paris and Lyon, France and London, England. Trade cards were often given by business owners and proprietors to patrons and customers as a way to promote their businesses. Prior to the use of street addresses, trade cards had maps so clients could locate the associated business. Many of these cards also incorporated elaborate designs, illustrations, and other decorative features. Trade cards became popular in the United States during the nineteenth century in the period after the Civil War. The late nineteenth century also saw the advent of trade card collecting as a hobby. While they are no longer in use, trade cards influenced the formation of trading cards and were the predecessors of modern-day business cards.…