card, advertising
card, advertising

card, advertising

Document/Book

Accession Number
2016.002
Description
Paper card. Front has coloured printed image of the Illinois State Building at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. Verso is a written advertisement for "Dunsmuir's Wellington Coal" referencing their Oakland, CA California agent James P. Taylor.
Narrative
This circa 1893 trade card was advertising intended for distribution to customers and prospective customers by James P. Taylor, an independent coal retailer based in Oakland, CA. Mr. Taylor sold coal in Oakland that was produced by the Dunsmuir’s mines. The card’s front bears an image of the Illinois State Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition. The verso has printed information about “Dunsmuir’s Wellington Coal”.

The World’s Columbian Exposition took place in 1893. There was considerable interest in this world’s fair, and a colourized image of one of its many buildings would have been a desirable piece of ephemera at the time it was printed. James P. Taylor was well known to the Dunsmuir men. He frequently accompanied Alexander Dunsmuir on ferry trips across San Francisco Bay, visited Dunsmuir House during its construction, and testified at the Hopper vs. Dunsmuir Will trial held in Victoria in 1903.
History of Use
Unknown
Date
circa 1893
Dimensions
9 cm x 12 cm
Material
Paper