C.H. Remer - Japan and China Tea Co.

I can't vouch for the quality of their tea their tea, but C. H. Remer of Syracuse, New York certainly produced some beautiful trade cards. They also gave away glassware and crockery as incentives. I don't read Japanese or Chinese, but I'm guessing that the creator of these cards took artistic license with the Asian alphabets.

 

The Faces of Susquehanna - Part One

Susquehanna Depot, Pennsylvania, also known simply as Susquehanna, currently has a population of 1,643.  There are no names on these portraits, but they are all from G.O. Sweet's studio. More portraits from Susquehanna coming soon

Tram Tuesday - Johannesburg, South Africa

This card does not show us the ideal close-up view of the tram, but it's interesting to me because it is an open-air horse-drawn tram.

The card was sent in 1906, the very year the system was converted to electricity. Unlike this rather primitive tram, some of the electric ones were colorful double-deck models, but there were also more upscale and enclosed horse-drawn trams. If you look closely, you can see a few nicely-dressed ladies with hats sitting towards the front of the tram, but it's impossible to tell if they're black or white. Was this a lower-class tram for blacks? Early on, trams in South Africa were racially segregated along with most other facilities and services.

Here's a picture I took at a performance in South Africa during the days of Apartheid.

The sender of this card (N. Claase) saved postage by sending this card without a message, thus qualifying as printed matter.