Circus Trade Cards

Trade Cards are small printed cards, usually lithographed, with an image on the front and generally some text on the back which promotes products, services or entertainment.

They were quite common in the 19th century and were highly sought after by children who spent many hours going through their collections. They would often paste them into scrap albums.

Circus trade cards are rather scarce and when found condition is not always the best. They are some of the most colorful and interesting of the trade cards produced from that period.

Click an image to see the full size version.

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All images from Commercial House Collection
Copyright 1998

Rupert Wenzel
Commercial House Ephemera
1554 Portia Rd
Grayslake, IL 60030
847-543-1041