Kerr Spool Cotton · Carlson Fable Collection

Title

Kerr Spool Cotton

Description

1880? Aesop's Fables. Seven unnumbered 5" x 3¼" cards, including one extra, from a larger set with colored illustrations. NY: Kerr & Co. Extra Six-Cord Spool Cotton Manufacturers. $16 (WC) and $12.50 (Fox and Goat) from John Davan through Ebay, Feb., '99 and $15 (WC) from Chuck Norris through Ebay, March, '99. FS for $21.75 from Carolyn Dias, Hanson, MA, Jan., '00, and OF for $22.60 from her in Jan., '01. FK for $32.50 from Linda Winkens at Relics, Sturgis, MI, through Ebay, Feb., '00. 2P for $13.52 from Linda Chromik, North East, PA, through Ebay, Dec., '00. Extra copies of WC, 2P, OF, and FS for $11.53 from Kathy Elliott, Ruskin, FL, through eBay, March, '08.Extra copy of OF from Susan Carlson, Dec., '24.

Very nice stiff cards with the full text of the fable--and lots of advertising--on the back. The special character of these cards lies in the way the artist integrates advertisement and fable. Thus the crane stands on a spool of Kerr thread to remove a spool of Kerr thread from the wolf's mouth. The "well" into which the goat looks down on the fox is the core of a column of Kerr thread-spools. In FK, the torso of each frog is a spool of thread! In FS, the stork dips his bill down not into a vase but into the core of three stacked spools of thread. In OF's marsh, the two frogs perch on spools as though they were innertubes or life-savers. The body of the iron pot is made up of two spools in 2P; the handle with a face--and a spool cap--can be hard to read. The cards are generally bright and clean, though the extra Norris copy of WC is slightly worn and soiled. Several cards are stamped on the picture side by retail dealers, all curiously from either Massachusetts or New Hampshire.

Date

1880?

Source

$16 (WC) and $12.50 (Fox and Goat) from John Davan through Ebay, Feb., '99 and $15 (WC) from Chuck Norris through Ebay, March, '99. FS for $21.75 from Carolyn Dias, Hanson, MA, Jan., '00, and OF for $22.60 from her in Jan., '01. FK for $32.50 from Linda Winkens at Relics, Sturgis, MI, through Ebay, Feb., '00. 2P for $13.52 from Linda Chromik, North East, PA, through Ebay, Dec., '00. Extra copies of WC, 2P, OF, and FS for $11.53 from Kathy Elliott, Ruskin, FL, through eBay, March, '08.Extra copy of OF from Susan Carlson, Dec., '24.