19th Century Trade Cards

Cards were inserted in dry good packaging as a form of advertisement.

1893 African Americans Picking Cotton , Fleischmann Yeast Victorian Trade Card

Trade Card for Clark's O.N.T. Spool Thread

Text in lower right of card reads:

"The thread that binds the Union North to South."

O. N. T. ("Our New Thread") is a reference to their innovative use of cotton in lieu of silk thread.

 

Ashley's Sack

Cotton, thread. 

29 11/16 x 15 3/4 inches. 

Created: 1850's; embroidering added 1921

Discovered: Nashville, Tennessee, flea market, 2007

Time line by Mark Auslander

Slavery's Traces: In Search of Ashley's Sack

by Mark Auslander, Central Washington University, 2016

Link:

https://southernspaces.org/2016/slaverys-traces-search-ashleys-sack

 

Book

A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people who are left out of the archives.

Link to read article in Smithsonian Magazine by Nora McGreevy, 2021:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-simple-cotton-sack-tells-epic-tale-loss-love-and-resilience-180978009/