MARINE ART
Trade Cards: A Lost Art of the Sail/Steam Era by Charles Ira Sachs Nineteenth-century sailing ships were as much admired in their own time as they are today. Billowing sails set against a cloudstreaked sky , a graceful hull cleaving the waters, a China trade clipper heading home with a cargo of tea-such are the pictures that ¡come to mind . The names of these famous ships were captured on trade cards that advertised their sailings. Called "clipper cards, " few actually illustrated the ships, because the square riggers themselves all looked pretty much the same, with few distinguishing features discernible to the layman . A more effective way to appeal to the broader public and to make the ship's name more memorable was to personify the ship. For example, the card for the David Crockett shows not the ship but the famous frontiersman riding the waves . The next generation of ships was different. This was the transitional period of transoceanic navigation when ships were powered by sail and steam. Few of the trade cards designed for these early steamships survive and little is known about them. Far more beautiful than the "clipper cards" they actually illustrated the ships they advertised, and they contained much more information--cabin plans, sailing dates and the names of the captains . The earliest of these is thought to be the Great Eastern , printed in 1859 by Ferdinand Mayer & Co ., Lithographers , at 96 Fulton Street, New York . The card is of interest not only for its historic subject but for the exceptional multi-colored engraving of the ship and the unique cutaway illustration. The detail is excellent and shows the decks , cabins, cargo areas and even the boilers and coal bunkers . In the 1860s the small photo called the "carte de visite" became very popular. People would have their portrait on the card to be given as a memento to friends when visiting . Shipping lines began issuing similar cards (usually 2 l/2in by 4 l/2in) with an illustration of the ship on the front and a cabin plan or other information on the back. The cards also had the earliest deck plans from which passengers could select their cabins and which they could use as a guide when entering the ships dark lower decks . The Cunard Line issued such a card for their fust screw steamer, China, in 1862. The rendering of the ship is by the artist A. Walters, and the finely detailed plan shows a first class cabin. In the early 1870s, the White Star Line printed a similar card for their Oceanic also with a painting by Walters , but with a plan for the steerage compartments on the back. White Star realized early on that the steerage passengers would be a substantial source of revenue and that they would need their own cards . The steamship trade cards really came into their own with the development of chromolithography which made it possible to print multi-colored illustrations of the ships at their best, with sails set and smoke drifting from the funnels . Some of the best of these cards were issued by the larger lines like Cunard , White Star and Norddeutscher Lloyd, but the cards of smaller companies such as Red Star Line and Guion Line
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are especially worthy of note. White Star and Cunard had their cards printed by Major and Knapp in New York. Their designs were usually broadside views of their steamers. Two excellent cards from the early 1880s were for Cunard's first steel ship, Servia, and for White Star's Britannic and Germanic, shown together on a single card . The British-owned National Line produced a series of trade cards for its ships . Printed by the Hatch Lithographic Company in New York , the portraits all appear to have been copied from paintings. Although National Line ships were not, as a rule, built for speed, their America did set a transAtlantic record shortly after she entered service in 1884 . The Inman Line issued several cards for their ships . The most famous of these was the City of Rome of whom one authority on passenger liners has written, " opinion is unanimous that no more beautiful steamship crossed the Atlantic ." Her sleek black hull with a clipper bow and three tightly spaced funnels cut a perfect picture on the seas as well al'> on her trade card. Although she was built for speed and was one of the earliest ships with electricity, she had a very spotty career and was not with Inman for very long . The State Line, which had a fleet of slower packets, printed several unusual cards . One , a starboard bow view of the State of Nevada , shows the company name in red letters across the sails . Another very rare design shows their building and pier in New York rather than a ship. The finest cards were those printed for Red Star Line in the 1880s . One excellent example has an overall decorative design, with a sailor standing to one side holding an oar. The sun is shown bursting from behind a red star, with a steamer backlit by the colorful treatment. Another fine example is their Western/and, an otherwise unexceptional ship built in 1884 . The poster style card, printed by the Bremen master lithographers Muhlmeister and Johler, shows Westernland cutting through the seas with a magnificent sunset behind her. The letteringRed Star Line above Antwerpen , New York, Philadelphiabalances the composition. Of all the early tradecards, this is probably the finest example . By the late 1890s, the combination sail/steam ships were passing into history-steam was here to stay , or to be improved upon. Offset printing began replacing the chromolithographic process and steamship companies began printing more complete brochures about their ships and companies. The last trading card was issued in 1903 for the Allan Line turbine ship, Victorian. In all about 100 designs appeared over the years, but despite their quality and historical value, they are extremely rare, and finding one in good condition is not easy. u.
Charles Ira Sachs is president of the not-for-profit Oceanic Navigation Research Society, an organization devoted to steamship and ocean liner history and based in Universal City, California. Mr. Sachs is also a patron of the NMHS .
SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1986