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America's Pastime: Patent Medicine Trade Cards on Pain Main Menu Introduction Student Projects The Power of Emotional Marketing: How Vintage Medical Trading Cards Used Children to Sell Their Products to Parents The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of patent trade medicine cards across the country. Prominent among the many marketing strategies employed were those involving child imagery. By exploring the historical juncture between child imagery and society, new insights are gained regarding the appeal of child imagery and its employment in various marketing approaches. - By Kevin Kerr, Curran Whitney-Vazquez, Chandler Warth, Samuel Sakowski, Eden Breslauer-Friedman Clothing as Tool of Expression: Utilizing Fashion in 19th Century Marketing In analyzing our group’s medicine trading cards, we were able to convey the significance of clothing throughout its relation to medicine. Various forms of clothing demonstrate symbolism towards an indvidual’s perception on medicine as well as foreshadowing the message in which the trading cards demonstrate. The various forms of clothing and stances the individuals and characters in the trading card portray indicate symbolize towards various forms of clothing and stances to highlight the social class and hierarchy of power with its purpose in medication trading cards. The way that every individual is dressed eludes to different perceptions of varying social classes as the medical epherma is not targeted to one specific group. This persuades individuals to buy the medicines and adapt to their encouraged medicine techniques. - By Brittney Abdi, Alan Torres, Jolene Matian, Zoe Rosenberg, Javier Perez Mejia Humanity, Animals, and Religion: The Metaphorical Sense of Rebirth and Apotheosis of Purity. In the late 19th and early 20th century, America saw a rise in Patent Medicine leading up to the civil war. It was a lucrative trade that encouraged individuals to cultivate their own brand and medicinal products. The rise in Patent Medicine could be explained by a multitude of factors, such as rapid increases in industry and manufacturing, urban living, the absence of drug regulation, and the lack of accessibility and distrust of contemporary medical practices. During this period, Patent medicine companies vigorously marketed their products through small, colorful cards that featured illustrations , along with information about the medicine's supposed benefits and ingredients. To persuade consumers to purchase their products, patent medicine companies utilized a variety of marketing techniques. Some of the most popular ones being the portrayal of humanity, animals, and religion to convey the notion of rebirth and purity. - By Dominic Castillo, Vanessa Jiang, Stephen Liu, Leo Martinez, Selena Quispe The Utilization of Youthful Figures, Both Humans and Animals, in Medical Trading Cards The UCLA Library Digital Collections consist of a diverse collection of Patent Medicine Trade Cards that depict historically meaningful and strategic methods of medical advertising, specifically focusing on irregular and alternative medicines. The following trade cards investigate the significance of youthful figures in medical advertisements, as seen in both humans and animals. - By India White Cloud, Shanya Rostami, Andreas Tunney, Noah Orshansky, Netaniel Daee, and Justin Vayakone The Appeal of Youth and Family in Patent Medicine Trading Cards Medical Ephemera has had a long history of using emotional tactics to appeal to its intended target audiences. One of the most prevalent motifs is that of youth and children. Through visual and written rhetoric, this theme appeals to many family oriented communities and their values. From reliability to rejuvenation, for many people children can represent what they want in a medicine. However, this era of trade cards was particularly deceitful towards audiences by using this rhetoric, yet had a significant impact on marketing tactics that are still seen and thriving today. - By Lauren Tanaka, Allison Bushong, Mollie Brown, and Garrison Hallum Innocent Imagery: A Technique of Patent Medical Trade Cards The evolution of curing pain and uplifting human welfare greatly interested the public. To help combat this suffering, medical corporations turned to advertising through Patent Medical Trade Cards. These small cards significantly helped sell medicines throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States of America. Specific techniques and styles, such as Innocent Imagery, assisted in attracting the consumer to purchase the drug. For instance, harmless animals, delicate flowers, and emotional characters were critical sources of visualizing innocence. -By Lauren Heiberg, Sean Eshraghi, Bradley Reed, Camila Ramirez-Leng and Shayan Mansourian Youth as a Marketing Tactic to Relieve Pain Our group page dives into the way patent medicine trade cards have utilized youth and innocence as a marketing tactic to improve their advertisement. We have focused on UCLA library’s collection as a whole and chosen to individually select a few of the cards that best match our theme all together. This project has allowed us to study the advertisement techniques of medical cures and solutions of its time as a group. We hope our findings are as insightful to you as they are to us - By Tara Kahrobaie, Rebeca Daee, Talia Fouladian, Ashley Kohen, Nathan Darougar, Saman Khalifian The Children of Medicine: An Appeal to Consumer Emotions Our group page explores the intricacies of 19th century marketing strategies that heavily revolved around depictions of children and the youth in an attempt to psychologically appeal to the emotions of consumers in hopes of converting sales. However, we also discuss how problematic this can be, especially when the product advertisement itself is deceiving and may even pose a threat to the lives of consumers. Though effective, using the youth to advertise products can be unethical and as a result, there were different legislations enacted to combat this and different marketing strategies have evolved in conjunction with it. - By Johnny Thai, Margarita Balbuena, Ryan Nelson, Chuntao Qiu How Depictions of Women and Children Sell Medication In this page, we examine the usage of women and children portrayed on patent medicine trade cards to advertise and sell medication. Throughout this page, we employ the collection of patent medicine trade cards from the UCLA Library Digital Collections, analyzing the images and text to gain a deeper understanding of this form of advertising. - By: Jacquelyn Bakshian, Abby Kim, Tyler Maghen, David Sagizadeh, Shana Simanian, Mia Tumbaga The Influence of Innocence and Purity in Patent Medicine Trade Cards This page will explore how themes of innocence and purity were primarily utilized in patent medicine trade cards in order to generate enticing advertisements to consumers at the time. Themes of purity, innocence, and femininity entwined with the audience's perception of an ideal person, and this page will dissect how these themes were utilized to create an impactful advertisement for medical ephemera. —By Lesley Sierra, Alejandro Haro, Taylor Sullivan, Karina Tairyan, Jennifer Lay, Parinaz Kyavar The Healing and Appealing Powers of Purity and Femininity Our group page focuses on the use of femininity and purity in advertising as a means to demonstrate the efficacy of the advertised medications. Through close inspection of various Patent Medicine Trade Cards from the UCLA Biomedical Library Special Collections, our group has gained an understanding of advertising strategies and the use of cultural norms to demonstrate medicinal efficacy. Women, ideas of femininity, and purity found in nature are the central themes of our scalar book and reveal advertising strategies of medications in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These cards as well as our own individual pages will explore the complex and historically relevant themes of femininity and purity through the lens of advertising strategies of medications and medicinal products in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. - By Stephanie Zager, Ella Kitt, Megan Sparrow, Corey Gear, Neda Afsharian Parental Protective Instincts: Child Imagery in Patent Medicine Trade Cards In the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century, pharmaceutical companies established marketing strategies in which they value child imagery upon the medical trade cards. By evaluating and uncovering new insights regarding the appeal of child imagery, the selection of six cards from the UCLA’s Patent Medical Trading Card collection will elucidate its marketing values and how it appeals to buyers. By Chelsie, Adrian, Micaiah, Princess Animals used In Medicine Trade cards Our presentation focuses on the use of animals in Patent Medicine trade cards, as advertisements , essentially animals are used are marketing tools. By using animals as the main focus on the image, the companies are able to grasp the attention of the viewers. - By Aaron Kohanbash, Aaron Ezra Kohanbash, Elan Amona, Samuel Kohanteb, and Avner Shamtoub The Usage of Various Species in Advertising Medicinal Products The UCLA Patent Medicine Trade Cards expounds on medicine under a variety of labels and names through its collection of 247 patent medicine trade cards. With the variety of medical products on the market, companies utilized artwork to advertise their products to the general public. Specifically, various species and the attributes associated with them were one common theme among patent medicine trading cards. - By Hoyeol Lee, Fady Tawfik, Daniel Rabkin, Mia Kubal, Sarkis Vartanyan, and Daniel Pirian Utilizing Trade Cards as a Key Advertising Technique Trade card makers employed them as a medium to promote medical products, utilizing various advertising tactics to entice consumers and guarantee profitable sales. These marketing approaches included leveraging maternal connections, portraying children, emphasizing the product's "healing powers," and presenting visually appealing designs. By- Hannah Shaye, Yaelle Shaye, Leah Tabibi, Odelia Safadel, Ely Gabbaypour, and Arya Afgham 19th Century Remedies for Women's Daily Troubles During the 19th century, patent medicine trade cards often were marketed to women. These cards advertised products that intended to relieve ordinary women of troubles that they faced on a daily basis. Many of these products included cure-alls, medicine for mothers, and medicinal makeup, which addressed the frequent concerns women experienced regarding bodily health, motherhood, and femininity. – By Omotola Adesina, Gengjia Lin, Renateh Moradian, Grant Pate, and Brooke Vallone.

Bell-Cap-Sic Plasters (Back)

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Message at the Top. Jacquelyn Bakshian
Contents of this annotation:
1. Bell-Cap-Sic Plasters (Back)

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Jacquelyn Bakshian Jacquelyn Bakshian
Contents of this path:
1. Antikamnia Tablets
2. Antikamnia Tablets (Back)
3. Alexander's tonic pills [inscribed] (Front) Original trade card forms part of: Collection no. 311, History & Special Collections for the Sciences, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA. Two panels each has a poster of a little girl. One poster the girl is holding an apple with the word wealth, there are flowers in the background. The other poster is a little girl holding a fan with the words rosy cheeks, there are flowers in the the backgound.
4. Alexander's tonic pills (Back) Original trade card forms part of: Collection no. 311, History & Special Collections for the Sciences, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA. Two panels each has a poster of a little girl. One poster the girl is holding an apple with the word wealth, there are flowers in the background. The other poster is a little girl holding a fan with the words rosy cheeks, there are flowers in the the backgound.
5. Bell-cap-sic Plasters (Front)
6. Bell-Cap-Sic Plasters (Back)

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The Use of Subliminal Images in Advertising Medication in the Early 20th Century While flowers and animals may be visually pleasing, they may also be utilized to convey meanings that may not be immediately obvious. Advertisers can make better use of the limited surface space of patent medication trade cards by pairing specialized visuals with secondary information. On the Antikamnia Tablet patent trade card, there is warm lighting and a young woman staring out the window while holding white Tiger Lilies. A little child with rosy cheeks holds up an apple with both hands on the front of the Alexander's Tonic Pills patent trade card, which is framed by exceptionally large red poppies. The front of the Bell-cap-sic Plasters Patent Trade Card features a sizable illustration of cute puppies. - By Jacquelyn Bakshian
While animals and flowers may be aesthetically appealing, they can also be used to portray messages which may not be evident at first glance. By using specific images with ulterior communications, advertisers can get greater use out of the small surface area of patent medicine trade cards. The Antikamnia Tablet, Alexander’s Tonic Pills, and the Bell-cap-sic Plasters Patent Medicine Trade cards in the UCLA collection use hidden meanings in images of flowers and animals to sell medications to treat all types of health issues. They are able to sell their product by creating a lifestyle which seems attractive to buyers.
Warm lighting and a young woman in a flowing white dress holding flowers gazing out the window is seen on the Antikamnia Tablet patent trade card. The whole aesthetic is intended to appeal to customers and feels extremely warm and pleasant. The woman is carrying White Tiger Lily flowers in particular. Tiger lilies are a symbol of purity. The advertisers continue to convey the idea of purity and wholesomeness by using this specific flower. The woman's face displays a look of relief as she inhales the scent of the flower. The benefits of inhaling the flower of purity are felt by the lady. As a result, if the flower represents the Antikamnia tablet, taking this medication will help you achieve the same purity of health and body.
On the cover of the Alexander's Tonic Pills patent trade card, a little girl with pink cheeks holds up an apple with both hands while being surrounded by unusually huge red poppies. These poppies are particularly important because according to flower meanings, red poppies represent hope for a peaceful future. As the Alexander’s Tonic Pill is meant to treat general wellness, the choice of this flower is very intentional in creating a theme. The back shows a little girl carrying a yellow fan and is also surrounded by pink flowers and other natural elements. The flowers on the back are Cherry Blossoms. Cherry Blossoms represent new beginnings. By using this flower, the advertisers portray the veiled message that this medication will heal your general health issues and you will begin a new chapter of your life without health issues. Together with the flowers, the image portrays a caring and tranquil picture, and the little girls' bright cheeks portray an image of purity and wellness.

The Bell-cap-sic Plasters Patent Trade Card's front has a large image of adorable puppies. People adore dogs, and because they convey a positive message, the product appears more enticing. The ambiguous statement "The Father and Mother of the Puppies" fills up the bottom of the card. The fact that the dogs appear innocent sends a positive message about the product they are promoting. People are more inclined to use a product if they don't see any harm from it. Advertisements frequently employ psychological manipulation to increase sales.
Aesthetic Advertisement Billboards, commercials, social media postings, and flyers are some of the most vital techniques employed by companies and businesses used to enhance their reputation and sell their products today. As technology has advanced, so have the opportunities to relay messages to the public today, making advertising and marketing much easier. In and around the time of the 20th century, proprietors and companies had to come up with original ideas and plans not only for buyers to comprehend what they were purchasing, but also to convince them to buy their product. During this time, trade cards emerged as the best way to market products. One may think, what use do trade cards have in advertising, but having such a limited medium forced designers and creators of these cards into coming up with precise and objective ideas to best display their products. The trade cards advertising Imperial Granum, Castoria, and Bell-cap-sic, are prime examples of how well products could be advertised with such simplicity yet much sophistication. Although all three of these trade cards advertise different products, the pattern followed in creating them becomes obvious once they are analyzed. Imperial Granum utilizes bright colors and pleasing artwork to catch the attention of its viewers. Upon first glance, it might seem that the artwork on the card was intended solely for the aesthetic pleasure of the card viewer, but in reality, by incorporating children by means of the artwork, it becomes clear that Imperial Granum is a product made for children. The artwork portrays calm and happy children with enough energy to be climbing on shelves and eating food. Even without reading the text on the card, one might be intrigued just by looking at the art. Castoria parallels Imperial Granum with a popping image on its front. Unlike Imperial Granum, Castoria’s message is not as obvious just by examining the artwork. Having two elephants playing in a serene setting did not seem like it had to do anything with advertising or medicine and first. Conveniently, the creators of the card added some context right below the image to help the viewers understand what the art depicts. Although it seemed as if the elephants were just playing, the art illustrates the idea of a mother tendering love, care, and remedy to her baby by way of the medication Castoria, relaying a heartwarming message. Finally, and additionally similar to Imperial Granum and Castoria, Bell-cap-sic also implements the use of art to illustrate the product and message it aims to portray. In contrast to the other trade cards, Bell-cap-sic’s illustrations do not seem to have a connection to the product being advertised, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. By capturing the viewers attention aesthetically, they are inclined to take a look at the rest of the card. Furthermore, the card uses the phrases “Cure like a magic touch” to continuously advertise the product, taking a slightly different route than the previous two cards. Moving on to the back of the trade cards, each of the three cards used the open space to include a detailed yet concise description of the product and other potential relevant information. Playing an essential role, the text on the card includes information about the proprietors, setting of the product, what the medication remedies and more. Considering the lack of technology available and the other limited obtainable resources regarding advertising and marketing, trade cards seem like a companies best bet. Being so accessible, portable, quick, easy, and cheap to make, proprietors of these products really made the most of trade cards employing many different strategies to get their message out to the general population.
Aaron Ezra Kohanbash's Patent Medicine Trade cards The three trade cards that I chose to use all portray advertisements in similar yet different ways. First, the picture depicts an advertisement for tablets that are used to cure headaches, colds are various other pains. The proprietor and designer of the card aims to catch the attention of its viewers by making it aesthetically appealing while having the card be sufficiently informative to what it is trying to portray. The card sets out to show the convenience of carrying these specific tablets by having them held in a hand, showing its small size and its portable nature. By using a beautiful blue and white contrast, colors which pop and catch the of its viewers, people are bound to stop and take a look at what they have in front of them. Furthermore the advertising trade card includes specific information essential to the understanding of the product. The transparency of the advertisement as well as its clear portrayal of what the product is used for set up the company and product for much success. Similarly, the next of the three trade cards I chose to analyze is Bell-cap-sic. sic is an advertisement for the medicine obviously named Bell-cap-sic which serves as a relief for bacaches, colds, and other pains or illness. They use a picture of dogs which can be a sign of healing and remedy, parallel to the function of a therapy dog. There is also a quote “Cure like a magic touch” which can be depicted as a way of advertising in an easy and effortless way. The back of trade cards uses a brief description of how to use the medicine, and what it cures. In addition to all of this there is the name of the seller, Mark N Sullivan, who is a prescription druggist. There is also a picture of a bell which serves as their trademark. The final of the three cards that I am using is called Castoria. The picture shows a full grown elephant feeding a baby elephant, a type of medicine. The medicine says the name Castoria. The baby elephant looks ecstatic to have the medicine and if he is ecstatic to be healed this shows that people should be ecstatic when having this medicine. The card has the word “” written on it on it which is important because it's the name of the medicine that is being advertised. The back of the card has the types of diseases that Castoria can cure including pains, burns and swellings. At the bottom there is a name and a seller in which I am assuming is the name and the address of the seller. While All three cards are a form of advertisement they all have their similarities and differences. One similarity that all three of them have is that the cure and the form of treatment is crystal clear. “217 tablets” and “” have a similarity in which they both use bright vibrant colors while Bell-cap-sic uses darker more neutral colors. On the other hand while “217 tablets” uses a picture of the pill, the other two trade cards use pictures of animals to enhance their form of advertisement.