Trade cards: Set of four trade cards featuring Jumbo the elephant by J.H. Bufford's Sons

Set of four trade cards that feature Jumbo the elephant advertising for various products, all produced by J.H. Bufford's sons. The products include Excelsior Metal Polish, Kazine, and A.B. Corrin Musical Merchandise. These cards help to show how Jumbo was launched into popular consciousness thanks to P.T. Barnum's purchase of the elephant in 1882, and the emphasis placed on Jumbo's size. By associating Jumbo with size and strength, his name eventually gained its contemporary meaning: extremely large. During the 1800s, trade cards acted as both a means of marketing and as a business card, with the cards being distributed to customers and potential customers. The advent of color printing lead to more sophisticated designs, and collecting trade cards became a hobby. This lead to the development of collectible cards like baseball cards. Jumbo the Elephant (1861-September 15, 1885) was an unusually tall African elephant best known for his time as an attraction in the London Zoo and as a part of P.T. Barnum's circus from 1882 to his death in 1885. His sale from the London Zoo to Barnum's circus prompted a great public outcry in England, and Barnum used the publicity to his advantage. Jumbo was killed by a train on September 15, 1885. Barnum had his hide stuffed and bones mounted to exhibit them as a double Jumbo. The hide eventually went to Tufts University and was there until it burnt in the 1970s, and the bones to the American Museum of Natural History where they remain today.