Domestic Objects "Designs and Pictures for Slate Drawing" Trade Card for businesses in Mount Vernon, NY

Slate drawing card featuring domestic items, designed with an intermediate level of difficulty, for children to copy on slate (chalkboard) tablets. From a series of advertising novelty/trade cards printed by B. McNally in Newark, NJ. Advertises four businesses in Mount Vernon, NY: George Gill (drugstore), W. A. Anderson Paper Hangings and Painter's Supply Store, F. Swift Carriages and Business Wagons, and David Cromwell, Grocer. Approx. 5.5 x 4 inches. Good with scuffing and wear, tidemark at the top. Copying images on slate tablets was a popular method for teaching drawing in the classroom. Children would progress from basic lines and shapes, to representational forms in outline, objects in perspective, and eventually rendering shading in animals and organic subjects. Because the method didn't require the expense of extra paper or supplies, it was also an economical amusement at home. Slate drawing cards and booklets were welcome forms of advertising, providing an economical means of amusement for children that ensured their longevity amongst customers.