Animals in Printed Ephemera

"R. & J. Beck, opticians, No.1016 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. W. H. Walmsley, manager. Spectacles, eye glasses, opera glasses, microscopes, thermometers, telescopes." For another trade card from this company, see R. & J. Beck, Opticians, Philadelphia, Pa. (thumbnail image below).

Dr. Hand's Remedies for Children Mothers, use Dr. Hand's Colic Cure in place of stupefying syrups, paregoric, and cordials. Immediate relief for wind colic or crying babies. Not injurious. Pleasant physic, teething lotion, diarrhoea mixture, cough and croup medicine. Colic cure, worm elixir, general tonic, chafing.

J. Kohn, the leading clothier and hatter, corner First and Morrison Sts., Portland, Oregon.

Parrot Safety-Match. Made in Sweden. Jönköpings & Vulcans Tändsticksfabriks T.F.A.B., Sweden.

A black cat scaring veggie people in a Raphael Tuck Halloween postcard.

Straw Hat Day, when it was customary for men to put away their winter felt hats and don their summer straw hats, used to be a widespread tradition in the United States during the month of May. The exact date for this seasonal switch from "felts" to "straws" differed from place to place, with May 13, May 15, May 25, or the second Saturday in May variously cited as the appropriate day to begin wearing straw hats. On some campuses, Straw Hat Day was a student celebration , and in other areas, it was an opportunity for clothiers and hatters to promote their wares . Someone created this card with an unlucky black cat as part of a Straw Hat Day observance, but I'm not sure how it was used. See below for excerpts from newspaper ads and articles that confirm that Straw Hat Day was "unlucky for felts." For more straw hat amusement, see It's Mallory Straw Hat Time! -------- "Unlucky? Are you superstitious? May 13th, unlucky for felts . Straw Hat Day. Get yours at the Co-op. $2.50--$3.00--$3.50--$4.00. Technology Branch, Harvard Co-operative Society...." Advertisement, The Tech (Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology), May 12, 1924, p. 4. "Official Straw Hat Day. Wednesday, May 13th. Unlucky for felts! Select your straw hat now and be ready for the big day. New straws are now on display. See the windows tonight, then visit your favorite clothier tomorrow for a fitting. Don't be under a felt when Wednesday the Thirteenth dawns." Advertisement for clothiers, Lawrence Daily Journal-World , May 8, 1925, p. 10. "Tomorrow, Thursday the 13th, will be ' unlucky for felts .' Tomorrow has been designated 'Straw Hat Day' and 'hay hats' will be all the rage and felts taboo. Even the black cat shown above [in an accompanying illustration] is reaching for a straw 'skimmer' and promises bad luck to all wearers of felt hats." "13th to Be 'Unlucky for Felts,'" San Jose News , May 12, 1937, p. 7.

"Hallowe'en. Friendly fairy, witch, or fay, fulfill the wish you wish to-day. Ellen H. Clapsaddle."

Even if ewe didn't do it on porpoise, please quit your lion! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) Punning humor from a 1910 postcard with an illustration of a lion (which itself is lyin' or reclining) that substitutes for the word lyin' (as in fibbing).

"Filene's, No. 18 Market Street, Lynn." A nineteenth-century advertising trade card for one of the early Filene's department stores. This one was located in Lynn, Massachusetts.

"Thanksgiving Greetings." A nutty Thanksgiving postcard featuring a squirrel!

Printed on the back of this postcard: "Whitney Made, Worcester, Mass." Postmarked: Alexandria, Va., Oct. 30, 1917. Addressed to: Miss Lillie, 17 Cedar St., Rosemont, Alex., Va. Handwritten message: "Hope to see you Hallowe'en night. Mary Ella."

"Come out and join the fun and watch for ghosts when Hallowe'en comes on."