J & P Coats Thread · Carlson Fable Collection

Title

J & P Coats Thread

Description

1885? 8 colored cards (apparently from a series of 8) used for J. & P. Coats Spool Cotton (unnumbered, with advertising and the fable text in various formats on the back), McPhail Pianos (each marked with the same simple number "32" and only the fable text on the back), Emerson Pianos, Eureka-Maryland Assurance and other advertisers (with various numbers introduced by "No."). Some also appear blank. 3" x 5". Multiple copies of each card, and reverses of three, as seen below. Between $3 and $12.50 from various dealers. There is an advertising booklet for Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company that uses seven of these eight fables and their illustrations, excluding only CP. Curiously, I purchased a set of seven "J.P. Coats" cards from Sherry Sonnett, Los Angeles, in May, '11, and CP is again the one missing card.

GGE:
Coats: 2 copies
No. 33: Butler & Kelley, Manufacturers of Ball Programmes, etc., NY, with indication on the back that there are eight cards in this fable series. 2 copies
Blank back, no printing, no number

"The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle":
No. 34: Jacob Doll Pianos
No. 34: Church Bros. Fair, Oshkosh Wis.
Coats

"The Swan and the Cook":
Coats: 2 copies
Blank back, no printing, no number

FC:
Coats: 2 copies
McPhail Pianos 32
No. 35: Emerson Pianos: D.F. Smith, Piano Dealer, West Liberty, IA (no text)
No. 35: The Mt. Holly Furniture, Art, and Novelty House, Mt. Holly, NJ (no text)
Reversed: Eureka-Maryland Assurance Corporation. ©FAS. 115

LM:
Coats: 2 copies
McPhail Pianos 32
Reversed: Eureka-Maryland Assurance Corporation. ©FAS. 115
No. 39: Blank back, no printing

OF:
Coats
No. 37: Blank back, no printing
Eureka-Maryland Assurance Corporation, Baltimore. ©FAS. 115

CP
Coats: 4 copies. The illustration is after one from Harrison Weir, as Tom Beckman points out.
No. 38: Blank back, no printing

TH:
Coats
Emerson Pianos. No text or number. Slightly damaged back. The card may have been slightly cropped.
Blank back, no printing, no number

Date

1885?

Source

Multiple copies of each card, and reverses of three, as seen below. Between $3 and $12.50 from various dealers. There is an advertising booklet for Wright's Indian Vegetable Pill Company that uses seven of these eight fables and their illustrations, excluding only CP. Curiously, I purchased a set of seven "J.P. Coats" cards from Sherry Sonnett, Los Angeles, in May, '11, and CP is again the one missing card.