Original Trade Card - "Willimantic Thread Booming.; G. C. Moore & Co., Dealers in General Merchandise, Erieville, N. Y."

Willimantic Thread Company; G. C. Moore & Co.

Published by The Hatch Lith. Co., New York

About this Item

Original trade card with a color illustration of a baby boy riding on a makeshift balloon made of a spool and its thread and some sort of linen or parachute that is out of view. No date, circa 1881. 3" x 4 1/2." Trade card is very clean and intact overall except for slight age toning and a few small dots on front and back. A Very Good copy. Trade card for dealer G. C. Moore & Company and its main featured product, Willimantic spool thread. The back includes most of the promotional text. Part of the text reads, "All the Honors. Atlanta, 1881." The Willimantic Thread Company's history began in 1822 when Perez Richmond of Rhode Island built a small cotton mill on the Willimantic River. The mill was eventually incorporated into the Willimantic Linen Company. The company became very popular and was known for its wide selection of thread colors. In 1898, the Willimantic Linen Company became part of the American Thread Company. Trade cards were 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.

Seller Inventory # 023339

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Original Trade Card - "Willimantic Thread Booming.; G. C. Moore & Co., Dealers in General Merchandise, Erieville, N. Y."
• Publisher: The Hatch Lith. Co., New York
• Binding: No Binding
• Condition: Collectible-Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Business and Finance
  • U.S. History
  • Trade Cards