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CLIPPER
SHIP CARDS
Clipper
ship trade cards are cards that were issued by dispatch
lines to advertise specific voyages of clipper ships from
one port (usually New York or Boston) to another (usually
San Francisco). They were distributed primarily during the
late 1850s and early 1860s.
During the pre-Gold Rush
era, clipper ship sailings were advertised primarily by
brief, unadorned announcements in newspapers. Once gold
fever struck, posters and broadsides were the printed media
most often used. While George Nesbitt & Co. of New York
was printing at least a few clipper ship cards (albeit
simple, drab ones) as early as 1849, the heyday of the
clipper ship card was still some years away.
Ironically, this heyday for
clipper cards did not correspond with the peak times of the
industry they promoted. Many people quite naturally
associate clipper ship cards with the frenzy of the
California gold rush, but in fact most clipper ship cards
were produced during the decline, not ascent, of the clipper
ship industry. The depression of the mid-1850s, which
culminated in the Panic of 1857, obviously hurt business. By
the late 1850s, when clipper card production began in
earnest, the clipper ship was facing a growing challenge
from the steamer. And in the early 1860s, the period of
heaviest clipper ship card distribution, shipping trade was
disrupted by the American Civil War, with any
California-bound clipper the potential prey of Confederate
raiders.
Most clipper cards were
printed in full color, on coated stock, and represent some
of the finest early American color advertising artwork.
Recurrent thematic topics and imagery found on clipper ship
cards include Nautical
Scenes,
Knights/Warriors,
Mythology,
Native
Americans and
Women.
While most clipper ship
cards show "action" scenes, some offer pleasant,
Pastoral
images. Surprisingly few clipper ship cards show California
scenes; unsurprisingly, gold mining usually has a presence
in the California
scenes that were executed. And many include little or no
illustration, leaving the Lettering
to shoulder the entire visual load.
The art of the clipper ship
card was limited only by the artist's imagination and
ability, and these qualities were rarely lacking. Couple
artistic success with excellence of printing, and you have
some of the most striking printed advertisements ever
created.
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