Implement Trade Cards

Before the Internet, television and the profusion of print media we have today, manufacturers used small artful and collectable cards called trade cards to advertise their wares. They provide an interesting window into the styles, attitudes and tastes of the late 19th and early 20th century.
The card above illustrates the Deering Binder (before the big merger in 1902 with McCormick). The binder is being admired by men representing several of the profusion of binder/reaper/mower manufacturers of the late 19th century. Many of these companies combine with others around the turn of the century and in succeeding decades. By the 1930's only a handful of the companies of the late 19th century remain.