DARWIN'S THEORY of EVOLUTION - A COLLECTION of EPHEMERA - MISSING LINK - SURVIVAL of the FITTEST - SEVERAL RARE ITEMS

Item Details

This collection of items relates to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as explained in his 1859 work "On the Origin of Species."  It includes 11 Victorian trade cards, one rare vinegar Valentine, one novelty mirror, one postcard, one 24-page 1922 pamphlet "The Catholic Mind" with two articles debunking Darwin's theory, and  one fan-shaped diecut illustrating the racist component of natural selection as man evolved from the lowly ape to the "superior" white man.

Trade cards include:

1) Missing Link Tie & Scarf Holder - 4 3/4" x 7 1/8" - printed by Holden & Motley of NYC

2) First Baby - Darwin - from a series depicting famous people as infants - 2 5/8" x 4 1/8"

3) The Two Gardens - Zoological garden of the evolutionists and the Garden of Eden, alluding to the Biblical creationist theory supported by the advertiser. 2 7/8" x 4 9/16"

4) Arm & Hammer Baking Soda metamorphic image with text referring to apes doing laundry as "man's progenitor." 

5) The Darwinian Theory - Black man with the silhouette of an ape as his shadow - from a set published by Bufford of Boston - 2 3/4" x 4 7/16"

6) An album card depicting the so-called resemblance between an ape and a Black man - 4 1/4" x 2 7/8"

7) Who was your ancestor?  Follow the maze from your birth month and settle the ancestral question a la Darwin - 3 3/8" x 5 1/4"

8) Darwinism Illustrated - Survival of the Fittest - the Peerless Clothes Wringer is superior and has outlasted its competitors - 3 1/8" x 5 1/2"

9) The man of the forest - Where is the man of the city? Hidden image French card - 2 7/8" x 4 3/4"

10 & 11) If I am Darwin's Grandpa ... - Two versions of the iconic Merchants Gargling Oil trade card - the rare 1872 card (2 5/8" x 4 1/8") printed by Clay, Cosack & Co. of Buffalo, and the later image (3 3/16" x 5 1/4") printed by the Courier Lith. Co., also of Buffalo.

Postcard - Isn't that Awful? - one monkey sitting on Darwin's "Descent of Man" and reading from "Degeneration" to another less-intelligent looking monkey.  Degeneration was a theory that creatures that evolve also had the potential to devolve.

Vinegar Valentine - The Missing Link -  racist image and verse depicting a stereotypically-drawn Black man as "the missing link between man and ape." 7 1/4" x 9 3/4"

Fan-shaped Victorian Diecut -  depicting the evolutionary trajectory from the ape to man, clearly considering the white man as the most highly-evolved. 3 5/8" x 6"

Pamphlet - The Catholic Mind - April 1922 issue with two articles attacking Darwin and evolution.  24 pp (including covers) - 5" x 7 1/2"

Novelty Mirror - Is man descended from monkey? Look on the Other Side - 2 1/4" diameter