Trade card advertising Ayer's Hair Vigor with shipwreck and mermaids, Lowell, Mass., undated

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Collection Type

Ephemera

GUSN

GUSN-190008

You can find this within

Ephemera collection
Advertisements, billheads, and trade cards
Cosmetics and soaps
General
Cosmetics and soaps - General - Folder 1
Trade card advertising Ayer's Hair Vigor with shipwreck and mermaids, Lowell, Mass., undated
(current record)

Browse Collection

Ephemera collection
- Advertisements, billheads, and trade cards
  - Cosmetics and soaps
    - General
      - Cosmetics and soaps - General - Folder 1
        Trade card for Henry Mais, wig maker and hair cutter, 58 Temple Place, Boston, Mass., undated
        Trade card for Ayer's Hair Vigor, manufactured by J.C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass., undated
        Trade card for Hiscox & Co., pharmaceutical & manufacturing chemists, 163 William Street, New York, New York, undated
        Trade card for Barry's Tricopherous, location unknown, undated
        Trade card for Dr. Hebra's Viola Cream, G.C. Bittner & Co., Toledo, Ohio, October 14, 1887
        Advertisement for Hinds Honey and Almond Cream, A.S. Hinds Co., location unknown, 1923
        Trade card advertising Ayer's Hair Vigor with shipwreck and mermaids, Lowell, Mass., undated (current record)

Description

The trade card advertises a hair tonic designed to "restore gray hair to its natural vitality and color." Depicted on the card is a shipwreck from which a group of five mermaids have rescued boxes of Ayer's Hair Vigor. The mermaids sit on a tropical shore brushing their hair with the tonic. The wrecked ship displays the American flag upsidedown as a sign of distress. On the verso is a description of the benefits of Ayer's.

Details

Descriptive Terms

advertising
business (commercial function)
hair
shipwrecks
trade cards (advertising)

Physical Description

1 trade card : color illustration

Collection Code

EP001

Collection Name

Ephemera collection

Reference Code

EP001.01.028.01.01.007

Places

Lowell (Middlesex county, Massachusetts)

Record Details

Originator

Ayer, J. C. (James Cook), 1819-1878 (Manufacturer)

Material Type

trade cards (advertising)

Subjects

Tonics (Medical preparations)
Mermaids

Accruals Note

W.H.Bunting, The Camera's Coast: Historic Images of Ship and Shore in New England (Boston: Historic New England, 2006) pg. 117.

Description Level

Item

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