J. D. Larkin & Company Trade Card

[Drop title] “Creme” Oat Meal Toilet Soap

Buffalo, NY: Clay & Richmond, 1881. 13.3x7.8cm: Trade card, printed on both sides. Light toning with creased corners, more heavily creased at lower left. Small chip to lower right corner. Light damp staining to verso, not impacting image or text. J. D. Larkin & Company logo stamped to recto. Very Good.

Card II in a six-part series for “Crème” Oat Meal Toilet Soap, “a pure and elegant toilet soap.” This trade card features a debonair, anthropomorphic chimpanzee dressed as a hunter—complete with tailored jacket, rifle, and polished leather riding boots. Each card in the series was originally tucked inside boxes of soap sold by J. D. Larkin & Co., with the full set available by mail for just a 3-cent stamp—a charming incentive. The reverse bears the name of R. E. Brink, a druggist in Caroline Centre, N.Y., reflecting the company’s early reliance on local retailers. However, by 1885, Larkin had begun to cut out middlemen, selling directly to consumers, and offering ever more enticing premiums with purchases, including, at one point, an entire desk with a $10 order.

Price: $20.00

Item #10524