Advertisement for Gainer’s Spanish Bitters. Ferries, wagons, trains and bitters!
This public domain medicine bottle label comes from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. The image consists of an action scene in which three vehicles are reaching a confluence at the center of the image. On the right, a wagon loaded with what one assumes is Gainer’s Spanish Bitters, races into the frame. Top left, a train bedecked with the Gainer’s Spanish Bitters insignia crosses a bridge, also covered with Gainer’s typeface. Entering the frame from left center, a large paddle wheel ferry steams through a canal. On the wheel well, Gainer’s is written in an arch following the contour of the ship. In the train’s smoke trail, the abundance of Gainer’s typeface is explained by the word “Celebrated.”
This advertisement image was published in 1868. This pre-1923 publication date ensures that this image is in the public domain.
4 megabyte TIFF. Hosted at the Library of Congress.
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03.17.10
This image advertising Gainer’s Spanish Bitter’s evokes the memory of a vintage photograph and the bye-gone horse and buggy era. In the center of the image we see a wagon, labeled Gainer’s Bitters, being pulled by two brown horses. A gentlemen dressed in a coat and hat holds the reins while another gentleman is sitting on the cargo-facing away from us. The horse drawn wagon is traveling next to a river, bordered by a brown wooden fence that also sports the Gainer’s Bitters name. Beyond the fence we see a paddle wheel ferry, also labeled Gainer’s Bitters. The white ferry is carrying a flag as it chugs down the river nearing a bridge that supports a train. An old fashioned steam engine steams across the bridge above the boat and wagon also carrying the Gainer’s Bitters name. Captured in the smoke of the steam engine is the word celebrated, eluding to the caliber of bitters that Gainer’s is selling. This old fashioned image is enhanced by the framing around the picture. Each corner is embellished by a photo-square type emblem that shows the monogram SWG. The presentation of this images makes me think Victorian era.