Vigo County Historical Society

Cards used to pitch products

The codfish lays 10,000 eggs,
The homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles
To tell you what she’s done.
And so we scorn the codfish,
While the humble hen we prize;
Which only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise

--Anonymous

Although the rhyme above is of comparatively recent vintage, the proposition it advances was thoroughly understood by ancients who, before the age of printing, utilized mural inscriptions to call attention to their products. A papyrus discovered at Thebes hawking a reward for an escaped slave is reputed to be 3,000 years old.

In ancient Greece, this function was carried out by the public crier and through the middle ages almost the only mode of publicity was the spoken word. The invention of printing in the 15th century, however, ultimately made possible the irritating but often enticing assault on the sense that we know today.

If you are by nature inquisitive, you might find it interesting to view a display on the lower level of the museum. It offers a collection of advertising cards that demonstrate how things were done in the period before World War I signaled the beginning of the end of America’s idealistic youth.

In some respects these ads are much the same as today’s. Chief among the subjects offered as pitch-people are children and beautiful women. Today we still have babes and babies; however, in the earlier versions the children were childlike and the women were clothed. Calvin Klein was a long way in an unthinkable future.

Pets, flowers and patriots were also popular. Everything is covered from perfume to plug tobacco. The horse-drawn Studebaker Street Sprinkler was a winner. There is even a four-card soap opera.

Card 1: Willie leans over well, sister says, "Don’t fall Willie!"

Card 2: Willie falls clutching soap; "Oh dear, Willie will be drowned!"

Card 3. Soap foam raises him to top.

Card 4: Willie and his sister stroll jauntily--"Saved by Acme Soap."

Endorsements from personalities are rare, although John L. Sullivan, the Boston Strong Boy, is presented as spokesman for the Union Pacific Tea Co., an ignominious denial of his Hibernian heritage.

Museum visitors who pause to study these miniatures will find them appealing because of their meticulous designs and vibrant colors. Viewers will also, if they let themselves, be transported to an immaculate world where children dance forever to unheard melodies of an age of innocence.