Posted 4 years ago
RickoInOH
(1 item)
Front: Cat chasing mouse while other cats watch. Singer in background.
Back: 3-point Description why Singer is better than the other brands of sewing machines. Stamped with purple ink ‘OAKLAND BRANCH 479 9th Street’.
Hi, RickoInOH. :-)
Cool. You can find other copies of this Singer trade card on the Internet with various vintages ascribed to it.
Smithsonian has an entry for it (no pictures, but an accurate description), and a date range from 1876 to 1883:
*snip*
Standard Company Name: Singer Manufacturing Company
Company Name: Singer Manufacturing Co.
Title: [Trade card featuring cats chasing a mouse]
Imprint: [Between 1876 and 1883]
Pages: 2
Notes: Format: Trade cards
Descriptive Notes: Front shows cats chasing mouse below a Singer sewing machine; verso lists machines furnished to women after the Chicago fire.
*snip*
https://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/trade-literature/sewing-machines/CF/single-recordonpiece.cfm?CompanyName=Singer%20Manufacturing%20Co%2E
The International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website shows the text on the back:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/images/some-very-hard-nuts-to-crack.jpg
And gives some background on it:
*snip*
The great Chicago fire of 9th October 1871 devastated the city. The ‘Relief and Aid committee’ worked to help the poor get back to work until 1874, providing artisans with tools. The Singer Company capitalised on this in their series Some Very Hard Nuts to Crack (Fig. 1 shows the back which was common to all cards).
*snip*
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/early-singer-trade-cards.html
What intrigued me was the particular machine depicted on the front.
The treadle cabinet looks like a slight variation on Extension Leaf Table No 87:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/extlf_cab.html
The machine head looks like it might be a model 12:
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/model-list/classes-1-99.html
https://www.quiltingboard.com/attachments/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/359248d1346439706-singer-model-12-fiddlebase-1873-yr-allotted.jpg
https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/what-model-singer-t199185.html
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/309974386833992715/
Looks like about as close as you can get to 479 9th Street in Oakland nowadays is a building that has addresses 481, 483, and 485 (and which houses various businesses, including a bar):
https://goo.gl/maps/BaopmiQP95pM6nB17
https://goo.gl/maps/SZ3M9zKJcWZYu3jh9
https://goo.gl/maps/QcKNjhKmXnn9riH66