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Posted By: David Seaborn

The Merchant's Gargling Oil set is a interesting group of 19th century trade cards. One aspect I've noticed (not sure if others have or not) is that they appear to have come out at slightly different times. The first cards (on the right) have more defined image charateristics, always carry 'Clay & Richmond, Buffalo, NY' in the title, and always have the original Merchants Oil Liniment ad back. The later ones (on the left) appear to be copies that came out a short time later. The definition in the image features of these cards is lost, they never say Clay and Richmond, and have more individual and local ads on the back. Just my $0.02