.....is this set of 6 advertising cards promoting Belle of Nelson Whiskey. The cards are in a series with owls on a tree branch, and frogs on the ground underneath mirroring the actions (or apparent actions) of the owls above. The pictures are stamped in red ink on the face with "Belle of Nelson" Whiskey in the lower third of the illustration. Below the illustration is an additional red ink stamp reading, "for sale by" with the pre-printed black ink shop name, "W.B. Ansted, Middlesborough, Ky." (I expect these could be considered a dual ad for both the whiskey brand and the liquor store.)
On the reverse of each card is the same statement by the "collector's office, fifth district, Kentucky," regarding the quality of the product as inspected. This statement is dated Feb. 28, 1887.
My research online reveals that the Belle of Nelson distillery was in business from approximately 1882 until around 1919. They may have remained in business during prohibition under the "medicinal spirits" loophole. Visit this website for more details:
http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/view_vendor.php?vid=SDF11458
The subject matter is very strange. While these cards are made for and given out by a retailer of liquor, the message seems to be rather one of the prohibition mindset, as in "see what happens when you drink too much!" The titles of the cards, in the order in which it seems to make sense, are as follows: "Admiration; Consummation; Dissipation; Desperation; Reparation; Restoration."
The illustrations on the cards are color lithographs, still in fairly good condition. The colors seem to be still true, and there are no marks on the fronts. The edges show thier age to some extent, with some corner wear and a few nicks in a couple of places. The backs are a little bit smudged, but still legible..(after all, they are 120 years old)! One of them ("Reparation"), does have a few stray specks; I cannot feel anything, so I am unsure if this is an 'antique' spill, or a flaw in the lithography.
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