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 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.

The Children of Medicine: An Appeal to Consumer Emotions

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The use of images of children on the trade cards was intended to create a subconscious perception among consumers that the products were safe and effective for anyone, including children. This was an effective marketing strategy, as many consumers were likely to trust products marketed this way. However, many of these products were not safe or effective, and in some cases, they were even harmful. As a result, the government eventually regulated the use of trade cards with images of children on their covers to protect consumers from false advertising and unsafe products.

The "big idea" among these topics is the evolution of marketing strategies in the medical industry, specifically through trade cards.

The first topic, "The Vulnerability of Human Emotion: An Effective Marketing Strategy in Medicine Trade Cards," highlights how medicine companies in the early 20th century used trade cards with images of children to create a perception of safety and harmlessness among consumers. This demonstrates how companies sought to influence consumer behavior through emotional appeals and psychological tactics.

The second topic, "Invoking Wonder and Curiosity Through Medicine Trade Cards," expands on this idea by discussing how trade cards were used to capture consumer attention through creative and eye-catching designs. The depiction of children in these cards conveyed wonder and curiosity, showcasing how the trade cards influenced the public by appealing to their emotions. This shows how companies used visual appeal and aesthetics to promote their products and stand out in a crowded market. 

The third topic, "Marketing Language and Its Evolutions Through Time in Patent Medicine Trade Cards," explores how language and messaging in trade cards evolved over time as companies adapted to consumer preferences and regulations changes. This illustrates how companies constantly refine their marketing strategies to remain competitive and compliant with industry standards.

Finally, the fourth topic, "The Evolution of Medicine Advertising in the United States In the early 20th century," provides a broader context for understanding these marketing strategies by examining the historical, social, and economic factors that influenced their development. This highlights the interplay between business and society and how marketing practices reflect and shape cultural norms and values.These topics demonstrate the complex and dynamic nature of marketing in the medicine industry and how companies have used various tactics to influence consumer behavior and promote their products.

The "big idea" that connects these topics is marketing and advertising strategies to promote medicine and healthcare products. Each of these topics highlights different aspects of this overarching theme, from the use of images and language in marketing materials to the evolution of advertising over time.In the case of irregular/alternative medicine, marketing, and advertising strategies have played a significant role in promoting these products to consumers who may be skeptical of conventional medicine. These products often use similar tactics as traditional medicine, such as invoking wonder and curiosity through unique packaging and branding. Similarly, the history of pain reveals how marketing and advertising strategies have been used to promote pain relief products to consumers. In the early 20th century, for example, medicine companies used trade cards with images of children on their covers to create the perception that their products were safe and effective.

Overall, these topics demonstrate how marketing and advertising have been used to promote medicine and healthcare products throughout history and how these strategies have evolved over time to meet consumers' changing needs and preferences. They also reveal the complex relationship between marketing and medicine, and how marketing strategies can influence public perceptions and beliefs about healthcare products.

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was a significant piece of legislation that had a major impact on drug advocacy in the United States. Before the passage of this act, there were few regulations in place to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs sold in the U.S. market. The act established the first federal regulations for food and medications, requiring that drugs are appropriately labeled and their ingredients accurately listed. It also required that drugs be tested for safety before being sold to the public. This helped to protect consumers from dangerous or ineffective drugs and also helped to promote public trust in the pharmaceutical industry.

As a result of the Pure Food and Drug Act, drug advocacy shifted to focus more on scientific research and evidence-based practices. Drug companies were required to invest in research and development to ensure the safety and efficacy of their products, and advocacy efforts began to focus on promoting the scientific basis of these products. However, the act also had unintended consequences, such as making it more difficult for alternative or traditional medicines to gain acceptance in the mainstream. These medicines often did not meet the same scientific standards as pharmaceuticals and were therefore viewed skeptically by the medical establishments. Overall, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 significantly impacted drug advocacy in the United States, shaping how drugs were regulated and marketed, thus influencing how consumers viewed pharmaceutical products.

For example, in "The Evolution of Medicine Advertising in the United States in the Early 20th Century" section, all three trade cards are related to, and heavily influenced by, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. At that time, there was a widespread phenomenon of arbitrary exaggeration of the efficacy of drugs. Some products that could not cure diseases openly claimed they could fix all disorders or conditions. Some medicines that could cure diseases did not clearly label the indications of drugs, nor did they list the ingredients, let alone misuse and abuse of medication. 

Manufacturers of Medicine Trade Cards love to advertise with children. As countless successful advertisements show, clear and lively images of children do not move just a few people. Advertising with pictures of children, adorable babies, and toddlers can attract consumers, especially women and children. Most advertisers like depict children in their advertising because children's advertising can directly affect children's consumption. Once children's advertisements are printed, they will stimulate children to have positive purchasing behaviors and perception of their products who then will influence their parents' purchasing behaviors. 

This page has paths:

  1. Student Projects Chien-Ling Liu Zeleny

Contents of this path:

  1. The Vulnerability of Human Emotion: An Effective Marketing Strategy in Medicine Trade Cards
  2. Invoking Wonder and Curiosity Through Medicine Trade Cards
  3. Marketing Language and Its Evolutions Through Time in Patent Medicine Trade Cards
  4. The evolution of Medicine advertising in the United States in the early 20th century

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