In December 1881 we see an ad for Cheney & Clapp announcing their store as a “Holiday Bazaar and Christmas Museum,” which is quite a boast.
They can make the announcement, though, because of the wide range of items available for you to buy from them, including Teaching Bibles for the teachers out there that you know, a “bewildering variety” of cards from the best makers, diaries, books, statuary (who doesn’t need a statue?) and work baskets. They also have dolls and toys.
Here in the 1880’s we see quite a bit of fancy typography being used. Almost every line in this advertisement is a different typeface, but somehow it works. I really like the design of the exclamaton point, as well as the idea of fitting “a popular line” into the middle of one.
