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by Ben Crane |
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Some of the most imaginative and amusing trade cards ever produced were printed by Wm. B. Burford Lith. Indianapolis, Indiana, to advertise the various veterinarian medicines produced and sold by Dr. Joseph Haas, V.S. also of Indianapolis. These cards show farm animals benefiting from using Dr. Haas' medicines in weird and wonderful ways. The animals are mostly hogs, chickens and horses but a few cows, goats and humans also appear. In many of the cards, the animals are behaving like humans in what is termed anthropomorphic behavior. A total of 75 Dr. Haas trade cards have been cataloged to date by Ron Schieber in his Dr. Haas Trade Cards Check List, organized into 5 groups based on copyright date, advertising text, and other characteristics. Each group has its own unique artistic style, suggesting that a different artist produced each group. Cards in the first 3 groups are copyrighted 1882, 1883 and 1884 respectively, those in the 4th group are undated, and the 5th group is numbered 101 through 112. All of the cards are marked "Wm. B. Burford Lith." with "Inds." added in groups 3 through 5. These cards are quite scarce and are typically found in less than Fine condition. Shown below are thumbnail images of the 75 known Dr. Haas cards, organized according to Schieber's check list, plus 3 associated Dr. Haas items. Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or click here to begin viewing the cards in slide show fashion. |
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