| Easter greeting cards were filled with images of 'Easter bunnies', eggs (some decorated and some not) and baby chicks. You might notice that solidly colored eggs are displayed in only one of the cards. Notice the card displaying a young boy with a sheep and two lambs around a giant ribbon-wrapped egg; the two smaller lambs have tiny gold bells around their necks. Although a few of the cards bear images of spring floral bouquets, only one card bears a cross, it with a sprig of 'Easter' lilies. The last card exhibited on this page is shown front and back. The Lion Coffee company, established in 1864 by L.B. Shattucck and C.C. Warren, was one of the first companies to engage in a major advertisement campaign. The company produced these greeting cards and, as the back of the card tells, enclosed one in each of its one pound packages of coffee. People may or may not have liked the coffee, but they purchased the coffee in order to get the cards. After that campaign, other companies, such as those marketing breakfast cereals used the same scheme by including small items in their boxes. |
