52 ASTRONOMY • JUNE 2019
help for those
who were studying
to become master’s
mates and pilots. This
card may have been handed
out in stores that sold nautical
equipment.
As color printing became cheaper,
cards became more elaborate and beauti-
ful. The aim was to get consumers to keep
the card because that reminded them of
the product. The German company Liebig
issued a series of trade cards showing dif-
ferent ancient goddesses, including Urania,
the muse of astronomy. It is a beautiful
card even though the back promotes
Liebig’s Meat Extract!
Another set of such cards in Italian
tells the life story of Galileo in great
detail. The company that produced it also
did a series about the planets and comets.
Some cards used astronomical images
simply to catch the eye. A trade card for
optical equipment shows a number of
elves deep in a cave, using a prism to
create a lovely spectrum.Decorative pieces
Antique prints, drawings, and even car-
toons provide areas of ephemeral interest.
It was common in the 19th century for
print shops to produce decorative images
for the home and collectors.
Two artists of note, Wilhelm Kranz andacross the globe provide insights into a
world that, in many cases, has been lost.
The 1910 appearance of Halley’s Comet
also provided a wealth of material for
postcard makers. The range of sub-
jects ran the gamut from the artful
to the comic. Originals of these cards
are extremely rare. With the return
of the comet in 1985, many of the
1910 cards were reproduced, along
with new cards that may now be
tucked away waiting for 2061, when
Halley’s Comet returns.
Trade cards
Long before mailboxes were cluttered with
endless color f lyers and ads, merchants
produced trade cards to promote their
products. These were given out in stores
and other points of sale. Throughout the
19th century, people collected these cards.
One of the earliest cards in my collection
is an ad for lessons in practical naviga-
tion. Captain E.A. Dunkerton advertised