This is a nice set of miniature maps of the states of New England. Each map is surrounded by scenes representing the major industry or points of interest of the state: manufacturing in Massachusetts and Connecticut, farming and maple tapping in Vermont, granite quarries in New Hampshire, and logging, hunting and ship building in Maine. Each map has been trimmed from the atlas sheets that featured four maps per sheet. They have unrelated text on the versos.

Beginning in the mid-1880s, the Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Company began to include advertising cards, commonly referred to as "trade cards" in packages of their coffee. This was a common device used by companies of the time to tout the virtues of their products. But the Arbuckle company carried the concept a step further and created a series of very desirable images. They then encouraged their customers to collect the entire series of cards and to trade them with their neighbors in order to complete their sets. Thus, "trade" cards began to evolve into "trading" cards.

Arbuckle issued a great variety of cards including birds, animals, cooking, satire, sports and maps. The map series, U.S. States and Nations of the World, were extremely popular. Both series were reissued in album format, which were available from the company as a mail-order premium. These fascinating cards are still actively collected today, more than 120 years after they were issued. The original Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Company, on the other hand, vanished from the scene over 60 years ago.

References:

Condition: B+

All bright and crisp with good margins all around. The map of Maine is slightly soiled.