Here’s a lovely old trade card from about 1890 with an autumn-winter theme. For the design, the artist has “gathered” three outdoor scenes, some maple leaves, some acorns on their branches, and some long blades of golden grass. If you are doing a double-take, and thinking, “I thought acorns were on oak trees,” then, of course, you are right. As, at first glance, one might assume the leaves are attached to the oak branches; unless they are supposed to be leaves from the red oak, but the leaves don’t look long enough for that. But it’s more likely that the artist just meant to depict a nice autumn arrangement with the pictures. As you can see, this trade card has some writing on it (which is a bit unusual.) Someone with the initials R.L.B. signed the bottom and wrote  “Dalis, Texas.”  at the top left, which was just a misspelling of Dallas.

The German Yeast Company shows up online in an 1890 publication entitled Seeger and Guernsey’s Cyclopaedia of the Manufactures and Products of the United States. They were reported at that time to be manufacturing
“dry hop yeast” in contrast to the other companies that had been reported to be producing compressed yeast, yeast cakes, yeast powder, and even sugar-coated yeast cakes.

Trade card, circa 1890.  Size:  5 and 1/4 x 3 and 5/8″

Price:  $15.00

Source:  Seeger and Guernsey’s Cyclopaedia of the Manufactures and Products of the United States. New York:  The Seeger & Guernsey Company, 1890. p. 619. Web accessed November 19, 2014. (Google eBook)