Victorian Trade Cards of Wheeling
In the late Victorian Era, businesses advertised goods and services with unapologetic flair.
Trade cards, which originated with 18th century French and English tradesmen, were particularly stylish. And the advent of lithography in the 1870s made it possible to mass-produce them in color, ushering a golden age — from 1876 to the early 1900s. Designed to appeal to those expected to do the shopping, the cards were either handed out personally to customers or placed on store counters.
Officially launched in December of 2014, 2015 was Archiving Wheeling’s first full year, and it was a indeed good year for our fledgling community experiment to bridge collections, tell stories, and preserve Wheeling’s history.
