Brochure, Ludlow Barker & Company, 1886

This collection contains different forms of printed paper items produced by Hartford businesses beginning in the 1840s and continuing through the present. Many types of ephemera, such as trade cards and catalogs, functioned solely as advertising. Others, such as bookmarks, calendars, and blank books, might serve a useful purpose as well as providing advertising for a firm. Much of the ephemera, especially the earliest items, were printed locally by Hartford’s many printing firms. Later items were often, though not always, printed elsewhere.