Randolph M. Cooley, Merchants' Express Line of Clipper Ships for San Francisco, New York: Nesbitt & Co., between 1853 and 1865? Catalog record
Ship owners produced small, colorful advertising cards during the 1849 gold rush to promote passage from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. Employees of the shipping companies distributed these cards, now known as clipper ship cards, to commission merchants and exporters as soon as a ship's schedule was determined.
Most of the sailing cards advertised the departures of clipper ships from the east coast to San Francisco; however, other ports around the world were also represented. Clipper ship fleets declined with the onset of steam transportation both by rail and sea. The cards were primarily produced by three printing firms: Nesbitt & Company and Watson & Clark of New York and John H. Bufford of Boston. Generally, the cards were printed on one side of a piece of glossy card stock measuring 4" x 6 1/2" inches.
James F. Hunnewell (1832-1910) donated many of the cards in the AAS collection.
Access
Some of the collection is digitized and cataloged online in the General Catalog. Select the "scanned image available here" link available in each catalog record to view and download images.
Resources
Bruce Roberts, "Selling Sail with Clipper Ship Cards," Ephemera News 19 (Winter 2001).
Allan Forbes, "The Story of Clipper Ship Sailing Cards," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 59 (October 1949).