Birds in Advertising - Part 1

It's not often that you see birds used in advertising anymore, but back in the 1880s birds were common in advertisements for all things unrelated to birds, everything from dry goods and shoes to liver pills and throat lozenges. The businesses hoped that people would collect the beautiful cards and remember their business that way.

The first one is from American Breakfast Cereals.

 

Then there are these beautiful cards from Solomon Rosenbloom & Sons, shoe dealers in Syracuse, New York. I highly recommend this blog post about the Rosenblooms and Daniel Rosenbloom's house on a blog called My Central New York. Samuel Gruber, the blog's host, has conducted thorough research, included a number of interesting photos, and writes a compelling story.

The last trade card from Liberman & Stevenson, also of Syracuse, take a different approach to advertising, emphasizing humor instead of beauty.

More birds in Part 2, coming soon.