Original Trade Card - "Willimantic Thread Lovely"

Original trade card with a color illustration of a young couple sitting on a swing made of a spool of Willimantic Thread. "Willimantic Linen Co." and other lettering and decoration is printed in gilt on one side of the depicted spool. No date, circa 1880s. 3" x 4 1/2." Trade card is very clean and intact except for age toning to front and back; a small scratch limited to the back, not affecting text; and a small, light dampstain in the lower-left corner. A Very Good copy. Trade card promoting Willimantic spool thread. The text on back reads, in part, "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 latter of which was founded in 1854. 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 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.…