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by Ben Crane |
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Nathaniel Currier began his lithographic business in 1836, and was joined by James Ives in 1852. They are best known for their over 7,400 prints, which they called "Colored Engravings for the People," but they also produced advertising trade cards which are less well known. J. Burdick listed 137 Currier & Ives trade cards in his "The American Card Catalog" in 1967, and more recently Ron Schieber has catalogued 166 different designs and 34 additional variants in his "Currier & Ives Trade Card Checklist" in 1995. The 34 variants are black and white versions of corresponding colored cards, and are considerably scarcer. Shown below are thumbnail images of 119 of these trade cards, all but cards 153 and 154 from the author's collection. They are organized and numbered according to Schieber's cataloging system. Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or click here to begin viewing the cards in slide show fashion. |
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