Original Trade Card - "Perfumed with Hoyt's German Cologne. Fragrant & Lasting."

Original trade card with a color illustration of two women, a baby, and a child in ancient Rome or Greece. One of the women is about the bathe the baby in a fountain while the child rests her arm on the rim of the fountain to watch. No date, circa 1880s-1890s. 3 1/4" x 4 1/2." Trade card is very clean and intact except for slight edge wear and some age toning on front and back. Age toning may be from the residual cologne. A Very Good copy. Printed on the back: "This Card Is Perfumed with Hoyt's German Cologne. Fragrant and Lasting. This is the most delightful perfume known." A truly unique trade card that was once scented with Hoyt's German Cologne as a marketing technique. However, the scent is so considerably faded by now as to be almost, if not entirely, imperceptible. Trade card for E. W. Hoyt & Company's signature "Hoyt's German Cologne" as sold by dealer James Mitchell in West Eaton, New York. Mitchell is described as a "Dealer in Groceries, Boots, Shoes, Notions, Fancy Goods, Cigars, Tobacco, Confectionery, &c." E. W. Hoyt & Co. was founded by Eli Waite Hoyt (1838-1887) of Lowell, Massachusetts. According to historical documents, Waite became sole proprietor of a drugstore in 1861 that was the foundation for his cologne business. Around 1866, Hoyt made his iconic "German Cologne." Hoyt also added other products to the company line over the years. As a result of World War I, the word, "German," in "Hoyt's German Cologne" was dropped. However, manufacture of the cologne continued under a new name, "Eau de Cologne." It is unclear when the company closed, but E. W. Hoyt & Co. was likely still in business until at least the early 1920s. Remarkably, Hoyt's Cologne is still manufactured and sold to this day by Indio Products, Inc. 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, some 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. …