Subject: Asian Americans

This is a beautiful envelope from Mandel Brothers, a prominent Chicago department store. Both the front and back feature an Oriental design, possibly intended as sachet packaging. The design is richly detailed with an aesthetic that reflects late 19th-century tastes. The style of the illustration includes elements that might be considered stereotypical representations of Asian cultures. Note that the envelope was part of a Library of Congress exhibit in Cincinnati in 2005 (AJA).

This trade card advertises H. Waldstein, an optician located at 41 Union Square in New York City. The front of the card features a charming illustration of an Oriental woman holding a fan near a body of water. A bird perches on a parasol next to a bouquet of flowers. The style and subject matter of the illustration are suggestive of late 19th-century aesthetics. The back of the card is blank. [Henry Waldstein was a Jewish immigrant who began working as an optician in New York around 1840. Some of the instruments in his shop were made by his relatives in Munich and in Vienna.]