See related Ayer's bottles under Medicines, Pontiled Medicines, Cures, and Hair.

For an illustrated list of Ayer's trade cards, see the Spring, 1999 issue of the TCCA magazine. Or contact Dave Cheadle, Email trdcardguy@aol.com, 3706 S. Acoma St., Englewood, CO 80110. He can mail you that issue of the magazine for $8.

Also see info about the Ayer's Company.

List of my Ayer's trade cards:

1. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / Tired College Graduate
   Tells story of Uncle Tom and his nephew, George, who had just graduated from college with honors at the expense of his health, and how the product restored his health. Excellent condition with just some glue stain on back (but all text readable).

2. Ayer's Ague Cure / Frog and Gator Similar Photo
   Chromolithograph of a swamp homestead with a little frog offering an alligator a bottle of Ayer's Ague Cure (for "Malarial Disorders") while another frog sitting on a labeled box of the product looks on. In addition, the reverse side shows a frog with a bottle of the product and also has advertising text.

3. Ayers Ague Cure / Lady attending sick man under palm tree
   Front show color picture of lady administering the medicine to a sick man sitting against a palm tree. Front reads "Ayer's Ague Cure is warranted to cure fever & ague and all malarial disorders." Back has advertising text with B&W picture of frog with bottle. Front condition is perfect, but back has album residue and big rub mark in middle of text.

4. Ayers Ague Cure / Lady attending sick man under palm tree
   Same card as above. Excellent condition - only problem is slight glue residue on back but no tears/rubs. For Sale $7.

5. Ayer's Almanac / The Invention of Printing
   B&W front picture depicts the invention of printing press. Back advertises Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, Ayer's Sarsaparilla, Ayer's Ague Cure, Ayer's Hair Vigor, Ayer's Cathartic Pills. Very nice condition except for one slightly bumped corner on this 4 1/4 x 2 1/2" card. A thin layer of paper loss in one small area on back, lower left.

6. Ayer's Medicines / Bottles Dancing around Globe with weather flags
   Front is color litho of various Ayer's bottles and products holding hands while dancing around the globe. Also has weather flags with a different product for each type of weather (e.g. "General Rain or Snow - look out for lung troubles and take Ayer's Cherry Pectoral"). Back has advertising text and B&W picture of man taking medicine.

7. Ayer's Cathartic Pills / The Country Doctor
   Front shows black country doctor sitting in chair with black baby on his knee - he is giving her some of the pills. Little boy kneeling is looking on. Back has advertising text. Excellent condition on front. Back has small spot of paper loss and glue residue but all text readable.

8. Ayer's Cathartic Pills / Young Girl
   Front shows color litho of young girl in a dress and partly reads "A Safe, Pleasant an Reliable Family Medicine". Back has advertising text and B&W picture of girl holding a tin of the pills. Back has stain from glue removal but all text readable. Front has some bent corners.

9. Ayer's Cathartic / 7 Nudes Similar Photo
   Reverse side reads in part "They purify, invigorate, and enrich the blood, stimulate it to healthy circulation, and, if taken occasionally, keep the system in perfect order..."

10. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral / Girl with Cherry Basket Similar Photo
    Some of the wording on reverse states "Too much stress cannot be laid upon the admonition to all persons affected by the insidious earlier stages of throat and lung diseases, that every hour of delay in the effective treatment of such maladies is dangerous and may be fatal."

11. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral / Girl under Cherry Tree
    Front has color picture of girl under a cherry tree watching two birds eat cherries. Back has advertising. Great condition with crease in lower right corner.

12. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral / Babies with large Bottle Front Back
    Front has picture of two babies beside bottle with cherry tree branches and is imprinted with "AYER'S CHERRY PECTORAL, Cures Colds, Coughs & all Diseases of the Throat and Lungs." Back side has more advertising. Excellent condition with some yellowing.

13. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral / Penn's Treaty No PIC yet
    Front has picture of Indians and colonials in re-enactment of Penn's Treaty. Back starts "The date of Penn's Treaty is in dispute, but it is universally admitted that Ayer's Cherry Pectoral prolongs and saves life ...". Very good condition with two bent corners.

14. Ayer's Pills / Fight for the Standard
    Front shows color picture of two soldiers fighting for the standard (i.e. flag). Great advertising on the back reads "The fight for the standard is over, and it is universally acknowledged that Ayer's Pills are the only STANDARD cathartic medicine of the age". It lists all of the type of disorders it cures. This card measures appx 4 3/4" x 2 1/2". In great shape other than a very small dog ear in the lower left corner; no other tears, folds or creases.

15. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / The Deacon
    Victorian tradecard for Ayer's Sarsaparilla entitled "The Deacon". The deacon is holding a paper that reads "Ayer's Sarsaparilla Cures Scrofula, Sores, Boils, Humours, Tetter, eczema, Dyspepsia, Catarrh, Rheumatism, Debility, and All Disorders of the Blood". Under the pic it reads "Land sake Liza, the very sight of that bottle makes me feel like another man". The back of the card has further curative claims as well as an offer for the consumer to send in for a 7 by 13 inch Chromo-Lithograph of The Deacon. Dated 1888. Just about perfect condtion except for slight stain on back in top right corner, but all text is clearly readable.

16. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / The Deacon
    Same card as above. Excellent condition with just some light album stain on back. All text is clearly readable. For Sale $10.

17. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / The Discovery of America
    Front shows color picture of Columbus on ship when America was discovered. Sign on shore for "Ayer's Sarsaparilla". Back has picture of bottle and advertising. Perfect except for some slight separation at bottom left corner and some stain on back where it may have been in a scrapbook.

18. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / Grandma, See What I've brought you
    Front has picture of little girl presenting her grandma with a bottle of Ayer's Sarsaparilla. Caption reads "Grandma, See What I've brought you". The back has all of the product descriptions and testimonials as well as a picture of the bottle with a wreath around it. It has glue discoloration, but no tears or smudges. It has a stamp by "Mullock Bros, Waverly, N.Y.". Some of the wording says "Our picture represents childhood and old age in happy contrast, and suggests one of the most appropriate gifts which can be made to an aged person. Ayer's Sarsaparilla has cheered the declining years and prolonged the lives of many venerable men and women, and has proved a blessing to thousands of suffers from debility. Card is in great shape with no tears/creases, except front has two very tiny flakes of white on the right side near the bottom of the little girls hair, but other than that, the front of this card is excellent. The size is appx 4 3/4 x 3".

19. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / Sunny Hours Front
    Front has picture of Victorian lady in red dress with child on shoulder. Front of card is labeled "Ayer's Sarsaparilla Gives Health and Sunny Hours". Back of card has advertising that partially reads "For Scrofula and all scrofulous, mercurial, and blood disorders, the best remedy is AYER'S COMPOUND CONCENTRATED EXTRACT OF SARSAPARILLA - called, for convenience, AYER'S SARSAPARILLA. It is composed of the Sarsaparilla-root of the tropics, Stillingia, Yellow Dock, Mandrake, and other roots held in high repute for their alterative, diuretic, tonic, and curative properties." Great condition with slight yellowing.

20. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / Sunny Hours
    Duplicate of card above in excellent condition. For Sale $8.

21. Ayer's Hair Vigor / Mermaids Similar photo
    Chromolithography of a shipwreck on a tropical isle with mermaids using Ayer's Hair Vigor. The reverse side has pic of the product bottle and advertising text for the product including claims that read "By its use, thin hair is thickened and baldness often, but not always, cured". Tradecard measures 4 1/4 by 2 3/4 inches. Near mint condition.

22. Ayer's Hair Vigor / Mermaids Similar photo
    Same as card pictured above. Very good condition with some album glue stain on back but all text is readable. SOLD.

23. Ayer's Sarsaparilla / Ladies & Children on Lawn Front Back
    Front has picture of Victorian ladies and two children with dog on a lawn. Front reads "AYER'S SARSAPARILLA, Purifies the Vital Functions, restores and preserves Health, and infuses New Life and Vigor throughout the whole System." Back partially reads "A REAL BLESSING. Ayer's Compound of Extract of Sarsaparilla is a skillfully prepared combination of the best vegetable alteratives and blood purifiers. It is composed of the Sarsaparilla root of the tropics, well-known as an alterative of great value, combined with Stillingia, Yellow Dock, Mandrake, all celebrated for curative qualities." Great condition with a slight crease and light yellowing.

Back to Reggie's Victorian Tradecards.