Wright Crossley trade card
Originally uploaded by Christopher Proudlove.

by Christopher Proudlove©

Perhaps it’s because as a junior reporter, I was indentured to a newspaper publisher who was also a jobbing printer.
Perhaps it’s simply because my writing for this column gets turned into reading, so to speak – smart pages with attendant images that are easy on the eye and (hopefully) worth something more than a cursory glance.

So, I collect long since defunct wooden poster type; printers’ type cases (perfect for displaying small knickknacks); wooden printing blocks and printed ephemera – arguably the cheapest of all collectables.

Cupboard drawers groan under the weight of albums full of old billheads; greetings cards; advertising cards; cartes de visite and best of all, a fascinating collection of trade cards.

Or at least I thought they were fascinating … until I saw the trade card illustrated here. Read more …