Ketterlinus Trade Cards Set and Checklist

‘It’s In The Details’

Title Ketterlinus Trade Cards
Year 1880s
Size 3″ x 4 1/2″
Images Color
Type Trade
Number in Set
8

Ketterlinus Trade Cards Overview

Ketterlinus Trade Card Tennis.jpgThese trade cards featured children participating in a variety of activities. As is the case with many trade cards, they were used by numerous dealers.

This card here features a card from the set with the Mack’s Milk Chocolate name. The Mack’s imprint is a fairly common one for this set and collectors may even refer to it by that name. However, the cards were issued by other vendors as well. And in addition to that, some of the cards, like other trade issues, do not have the name of any business or advertiser as those would have been stock issues not yet used.

The fronts included a color picture of children along with various print or stamps. Some backs also provide an advertisement, too, sometimes even offering insight how they were distributed. For example, C.M. Cummings, a shoe distributor, also used these cards. The backs of those cards indicated a complete set of them would be given to anyone buying a pair of boots or shoes.

Most cards feature non-sports pictures but sports depicted archery, bowling, and badminton.

Lithography for the cards was performed by Ketterlinus out of Philadelphia. Thus, the Ketterlinus Trade Cards is a better name for this issue vs. Mack’s or the name of other companies that distributed these cards. That company performed lithography for other trade cards as well.

Ketterlinus Trade Cards Checklist

  1. Accordion Playing
  2. Archery
  3. Badminton
  4. Bowling
  5. Children Walking with Boy Spying
  6. Hurdling Fence
  7. Painting
  8. Walking Turtle

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