Trade Card. The Youth’s Companion. Boston, Mass. Circa 1887.

Price:  $12.00        Size:  3 and 3/4 x 5 and 7/8″

“The Youth’s Companion. An Illustrated Paper. For Young People And The Family. Published Weekly By Perry Mason & Co. Boston Mass.”

What a beautiful illustration (!) and perfect for autumn with the gorgeous mums in the foreground. The background delights us, as well, with a castle, mountains and an unusual pale green-tinted sky.

The Youth’s Companion ran from 1827 – 1929 when it merged with The American Boy. The Companion, like the back of the card states, was popular with adults as well as children, and ran contributions from many famous authors…..I’m thinking there must be many “stories within the story” here (very fitting for a magazine) but one is it’s “connection” to The Pledge of Allegiance and another is it’s connection (in the future) with the fictional character Perry Mason. Check out the Wiki article. And see Dr. John W. Baer’s  “Chapter Two: The Youth’s Companion’s Pledge”  (2007) for an in-depth look as to who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance and more about The Youth’s Companion.

As far as the date for the trade card, we’ll estimate 1887, as Pinterest shows the same card that we have, and along with it, a very similar one with an 1887 calendar.

Sources:  The Youth’s Companion. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Youth’s_Companion. (accessed November 15, 2015).

Baer, John W., “Chapter Two:  The Youth’s Companion’s Pledge” The Pledge of Allegiance, A Revised History and Analysis, 2007. (Web accessed November 15, 2015.)