Geography: Concord

This trade card, advertising Strauss' clothing store in Concord, Massachusetts, uses a humorous approach to promote its durable suits. The front of the card depicts a lively scene of a man demonstrating the strength of a suit by attempting to tear it apart without success. The illustration is detailed and uses vibrant colors to emphasize the resilience of the garments. The back of the card features a text-based advertisement; it is formatted as a reward poster for a stolen horse—a 'blind horse'—offering $500. The text also subtly advertises suits underneath the reward notice. The visual style and color scheme of the card suggest a late 19th-century origin.

A hand-carried, stampless letter written by Ira Ballou in Manchester, New Hampshire on July 10, 1840, addressed to J. McDaniel in Concord, Nova Scotia. The letter discusses Ballou's agency for E.W. Capron & Co., selling Persian Pills and David's Jew (Hebrew) Plaster, and requests a supply of the plaster.