19th Century Clipper Ship Sailing Cards

Historic Clipper Cards

We usually post more modern topics but these photos of 19th century clipper cards was too visually impressive of a collection to pass up. Flickr user pantufla tells us:

Actually these are 19thc Clipper Cards. I recently saw one at a rare book expo, and it was about as big as an ipod. I was surprised because of all the detail poured into these. They certainly would work as posters too, and maybe there were larger versions. Read more here:”Clipper ship trade cards are cards that were issued by dispatch lines to advertise specific voyages of clipper ships from one port (usually New York or Boston) to another (usually San Francisco). They were distributed primarily during the late 1850s and early 1860s.”

You can find the collection HERE and information on the history of the cards HERE