Photo-lithographic trade card showing the Suspension Bridge, Exposition Building, and Union Depot in Minneapolis, and advertising the Bethlehem Business College, Bethlehem, PA.
According to one source, photo-lithography is the technique of transferring photographs "on to stone by the New German Process, rendering Photographs permanent." Several US printers, notably Ward Bros. of Columbus, O. and Chisholm Bros. of Portland, ME, used this technique to create large sets of cards showing popular subjects such as American scenes and buildings.
One of the subjects portrayed by these cards is the 1893 Columbus Exposition in Chicago, and the right time frame for these cards is probably in the1890s. These card are interesting in that they show things that actually existed during that period, and they might be considered the trade card equivalent of the highly collectible real-photo postcards.
Jersey Coffee, produced by Dayton Spice Mills Co., Dayton, Ohio, was one of the products most heavily advertised, and cards advertising the Bethlehem Business College are quite unusual. Advertising on the back of this card gives the particulars about the college, and stresses "no vacations."
This card was printed by Chisholm Bros. Lith. Portland ME, and is shown at 85 percent of its actual size.