1. The Trade Card

Begun as prints from engravings, the labor costs involved in the production of early forms of advertising trade cards restricted their distribution to exclusive merchants in the American colonies initially in this country, and only to the most well-off and discerning customers.(X) The technological advance of lithography, taking root around 1820, made the production of images infinitely easier and less costly than engraving. By producing an image on the smooth surface of a slab of limestone with a grease based implement, lithographers were able to make endless numbers of black and white copies by wetting the stone, covering the image with an oil-based ink, and pressing the stone to paper. Since oil and water cannot mix, the ink was pulled only from the area of the original rendering.

Illinois

The trade cards were innovative in that they were the first example of colored images to be made available to the public at no direct cost. This implied that they were available for everyone. With a cultural importance put on education  trade cards were often seen as a way to educate people about their product. However to catch someone's eye they would be masked as educating some other information.

1. The Trade Card