For a Lady's Fine, Stylish, and Durable Shoe, Buy from Reed & Weaver, Rochester, N.Y.

"For a ladies fine, stylish & durable shoe, always buy those made by Reed & Weaver, Rochester, N.Y."

An example of a "stock" Victorian-era trade card with a generic design--a woman's hand holding blue forget-me-not flowers--that allowed it to be overprinted with advertisements for different businesses. Stock cards usually weren't used to illustrate products but rather as a way to entice customers and their children with bright and colorful designs that they'd want to take home and add to their scrapbooks.

In this case, the same card was used for Reed and Weaver shoes in Rochester, N.Y. (above), photographer J. N. Choate of Carlisle, Pa. (below left), and Pallister Brothers' Candies of Ottumwa, Iowa (below right). A stock card like this might also have been used for calling cards, greeting cards, and rewards of merit.



This second Pallister Brothers' Candies (below) illustrates the way in which stock cards were often printed in series. Instead of a hand holding forget-me-nots, this variation shows a hand holding a lily, and it's likely that the series included additional designs with other flowers.