Business Advertisement Card: "Dr. Seth Arnold's Cough Killer"

Many American advertising cards in the nineteenth century displayed a variety of visual and rhetorical themes to foster the attention of potential consumers. The appealing elements these cards displayed convinced the public that these easily disposable ephemera pieces were worthy of preservation. In this card for Dr. Seth Arnold's Cough Killer, two advertising tropes which can be observed are the inclusion of animals and the imagery medical advertisers used to make their remedial products seem more trustworthy.

American advertisers often included animals in their trade cards to charm and increase consumer patronage. Producers were particularly incentivized to make their advertisements visually appealing to children since younger audiences tended to collect and disseminate trade cards to their parents. This card demonstrates this trend by showing a girl hugging a dog, a wholesome image which helps to facilitate favorable attention from consumers.

As many Americans practiced self-medication and distrusted medical professionals, patent medicine companies were the largest distributors of domestic trade cards. Public ignorance of healthy habits and a lack of advertising regulations on trade cards allowed medical advertisers to make exaggerated and untruthful claims on the beneficial qualities of their products. This marketing approach resulted in great profits for the sellers, but also fostered the prevalence of disease and other illnesses. This card is an example of this trend because it includes the appealing imagery of a young girl hugging a dog to convince consumers that this supposedly remedial item advertised produces effects which are, overall, positive and healing.

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