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Antique Victorian advertising trade card for Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, featuring a beautiful chromolithographed portrait of a young girl.
The front reads “Ayer’s Sarsaparilla – Makes the Weak Strong – Purifies the Blood, Improves the Complexion” and “How fair she grows from day to day.”
The reverse features the complete period advertising poem/story about the girl and Ayer’s Sarsaparilla, along with Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass., U.S.A. The original advertising states $1 per bottle, six bottles for $5.
This particular image is documented in the Boston Public Library’s collection of 19th-century American trade cards and dates to approximately 1890.
The front also bears a faint period handwritten inscription that appears to read “Clark Lloyd.” The writing is original to the card, but the identity of the person who wrote it is unknown.
Condition:
Antique condition with age-related toning, staining, discoloration, creasing, surface wear, and paper loss/abrasion on the reverse. The front remains attractive with good overall color. Please examine all photographs carefully, as they show the exact card and condition.
A great piece of 19th-century Victorian advertising ephemera for collectors of Ayer’s products, patent medicine advertising, pharmaceutical history, trade cards, and Americana.
