Non-Stock Series Trade Cards

1925? Thirty small (2⅛" x 2¾") numbered colored "Collection Ibled" trade cards illustrating fables of La Fontaine. Simple thin cards with nothing on the verso. The image side of the card has "Collection Ibled" at the top along with a number ranging from #304 to #582. The style is sometimes reminiscent of Benjamin Rabier. The design of the illustrations of these cards does not replicate the design on the "Collection Ibled" black-and-white cards, which are otherwise in the same format.

1885? One monochrome card advertising Johnson, Clark & Co. sewing machines with FWT. Two scenes, blank back, text underneath. Three copies, between $7.50 and $12.50, the last from Jeff Carr, Oakland, Spring, '97. Each of the three cards is done in a different color. The red-ink copy adds "Leavitt & Brant" in Boston. The text (including a dangling participle) confirms the unusual approach to the story: "There was once a Fox who lost his tail in a trap. Meeting his companions they mocked at him, so he bought a Light-Running 'New Home' Machine, which sewed it on so tight that it never came off again." The second scene seems to have the tail already firmly in place while the bespectacled fox now works on a different task at the machine! The other copies are brown and blue. While these cards are not actually a series, they are too much fun together to miss!

1930? 97 of 192 numbered Flan Imperial trade cards with many duplicates. Imperial, La Madeleine lez Lille. Printed by Landouzy Freres, Lambersart. $255 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. #126, "Elephant, Rat, and Cat" for $3.55 from mumul58 through Ebay, Oct., '20. 23 further cards from Bertrand for $4.50 each, Sept., '20. And a second album including 14 cards, from Erhard Ciolina, Fountain Hills, AZ, through Ebay for $10, June, '22. #5 from segpascal through Ebay for €3.50, Oct., '21. 42 cards for €20 from boiscorbons through Ebay, Sept., '23. 5 further cards for €3.90 each from olivier9862 through Ebay, Sept., '23. "Swallow and Young" for €3.90 from olivier9862, Oct., '23. "Cards" is an overstatement for these 2½" x 3½" slips of paper. On one side is a colored illustration, title, and number. On the verso is the text of the fable and, after #96, an indication that there are two albums to be filled out, Album No. 1 for Fables #1-#96 and Album No. 2 for Fables #97-#192. Of course, the collector in me is already wondering where I can find the two complete albums. The color work is sometimes better than one would expect for a simple effort like these illustrations. Two favorites of mine are "The Robbers and the Ass" (#4) and "The Lark and Her Young" (#76). I am a little surprised that I have not run into a single card from this large set before this time. I am unsure of the reference of the cabbage and pot in "The Untrustworthy Depositary" (#176). Now see a complete album of cards #1 through #96. The second album fills in several of the cards missing among the individual cards. I recommend keeping it with the cards.

1940? Six card set of Erdal Kwak landscape cards illustrating scenes from Reineke Fuchs. "Serie 55. Deutsche Märchen: Reineke Fuchs." $5.99 from sarmagetia through Ebay, Oct.' 22 Extra set of all but the first card from an unknown source, July, '19. Each card's verso contains a paragraph of the story in prose. In this version, He starts by eating chickens. Next we see Isengrim the wolf profiting from Renard's dropping fish from the angler's cart. The third scene is Renard's trick against Braun the bear, sent to bring him to court. In the fourth scene, Braun and Isengrim are ready to execute Renard but he talks his way out of it by recounting treasure. King Lion forgives him. The rabbit Lampe was to accompany Renard as he starts on his pilgrimage to Rome, but Renard ruthlessly kills him in his home Malepart. In the last scene, Renard conquers Isengrim before the whole court.

1950? Three cards advertising ERA Margarine aux Fruits d'Orient. GA, MM, "Cobbler and Financier." "Breveté S.G.D.G." Printed by H. Bouquet in Paris. €5 each from kam-oulox on Ebay, Nov., '23. Each card has clear lines on its verso for cutting the scene out from the surrounding card. There is also a line to score so that the scene stands up from its base. "Breveté S.G.D.G." has to do with the patent of this product. Each scene includes either a container of ERA margarine or an advertisement for it. Good color printing!

1900? La Fontaine. Six large (almost 6" x 9") cards titled "Au Bon Marché" each with an ornately framed colored image by Maurice Leloir. Paris: E. Barret. 50 Francs each from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. Extra copies of "La Vielle & les Deux Servantes" and "Le Loup, la Mere & l'Enfant" for the same price from Annick, July, '01. Each card lists "Au Bon Marché" at the top of the front and back. GA and "Les Deux Pigeons" are translated into entirely human scenes. While the style of the art is not to my taste, the colored printing is lovely on these well preserved cards. The ornate framing of the scene may sometimes be more engaging than the scene! Included are also MM, "L'Asne & le Petit Chien," "Le Loup, la Mere & l'Enfant," and "La Vieille & les Deux Servantes."

1900? Fables de Florian. J.J. Grandville. Eight cards, just over 6¼" x 4½", advertising Au Bon Marché, presenting fables of Florian and illustrated in color by J.J. Grandville. Engraved by H. Demoulin and printed by Draeger Frères. From Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market for about 50 Francs each, August, '99 and July, '01. "Le Linot" for $14 from McIaren Enterprises, Nottingham, England, through Ebay, August, '00. "La Tourterelle et la Fauvette" for €3 at Paris Post Card Exhibit, Jan., '05. Extras of "Les deux Chats," "La Guenon, le Singe et la Noix," and "Le Hibou et le Pigeon," the latter cropped. Each card lists "Au Bon Marché" at the top of both front and back. The front of the card then presents a delightful Grandville scene, including the usual dressed human animals. Under Grandville's signature is a title for the fable scene and, in parentheses, "Fables de Florian." The back identifies Au Bon Marché as "Maison A. Boucicaut" in Paris, restates "Fables de Florian," and lists the engraver and printer under the full text. A note on the back of one of the cards from Annick indicated that there are six in the series. Now that--having found "Le Linot" and "La Tourterelle et la Fauvette"--I have eight, that remark seems to have been premature. While all the illustrations are done in portrait format, half of the texts are in landscape format.

1900 Exposition Universelle 1900 GGE. Five slightly larger than 6½" x 4" cards, titled "La Poule aux Oeufs d'Or," printed by B. Sirven, Toulouse-Paris. €8 for four cards (of 6?): #1, 2, 3, and 5 in St. Ouen, August, '13. Extra copy of #1 for 60 Francs from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. Extra copies of several cards and a first copy of the last missing card, #4, from Caveron Devey, Paris, August, '14. The truly last missing card for €12 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricquart, France, Sept., '18. In the first image, a little girl seems to be putting coins into a stocking while a little boy watches. This seems the "before" of the story itself, establishing that the couple is poor. The second scene shows the young man delighted to have found a golden egg. The young man believes in the third scene that this black hen contains a whole treasure. The fourth card introduces the sinister knife with wondrous eagerness! In the fifth scene, the hen lies dead and the two humans grieve. Now in 2020, I have learned from Bertrand Cocq that there are actually six cards in the series. Of course! There are always six! Lovely colors!

1900 Exposition Universelle 1900 "Le Meunier, Sons Fils et l'Ane." Six slightly larger than 6½" x 4½" cards printed by Courmont Frères, Ch. Rousseau Sr, Paris. Each scene signed by F. Cap (?). 70 Francs each from Annick Tilly at the Clignancourt flea market, August, '99. Extras of cards 1, 4 (cropped), and 5 (cropped) for a total of 110 Francs from Annick, August, '01. Extras of cards 1 and 3 for €2 each from Paris Postcard Exhibit, Jan., '05. Extras of cards 1 and 3 for €5 each from St. Ouen, August, '13. Each of the six scenes here has a four-to-seven line segment of La Fontaine's long fable. Again, as in the GA set, "Au Bon Marché" and the title of the fable are to be found somewhere on the picture side. The back has the same information as there including mention that this store is "comme l'une des plus remarquables curiosités de Paris." Several of the cards show crease-marks or the residue of a scrapbook on their backs.

1930? Six large (5½" x 8⅜") colored advertisements for Blédine nutriments offering an illustration and a text for a fable of La Fontaine. $48 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. Twelve further advertisements for €21.25 through Ebay from Eric Leneuf, Talant, France, July, ’21, including “The Fish and the Shepherd Playing the Flute”; “The Crow Wanting to Imitate the Eagle”; “The Woodcutter and Mercury”; “The Robbers and the Ass”; “The Cook and the Swan”; and “The Lion Subdued by the Man.” Four extras for €11.77 from bill2100 through Ebay, March, ’21. Six extras for €12.41 from chromosetcollections through Ebay, Jan., ’21. Three more extras for €8.75 from maconlection through Ebay, Oct., '22. Blédine seems to have offered the right food for infants after mother's milk, perhaps something like cream of wheat. They also produced Blécao. These are very nicely colored illustrations. As so often, the French seem to want children to act out their fables, even if they lose some of their meaning in the process. I wonder, for example, if the TB fable does not lose its significance when the "bear" surprising the travelers is a costumed child. The text on some of these pages overflows onto the verso among the advertising. These are not really "cards," either in size or paper stock, but they are closer to trade cards than they are to most advertisements.