Trade card:Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.

Prior to the 1860s, tea sold for a steep $2 per pound, making it a luxury few Americans could afford. However, technological innovations in production and transportation led to massive industrial reorganization as companies sought to consolidate their share of the market. In 1859 The Great American Tea Company began importing teas directly from Asia, expanding into a franchise of more than 100 stores over the next two decades. No longer dependent upon importers and other middlemen, A & P cut their retail prices by more than half, making tea available to a rapidly expanding national market of middle-class consumers.

In 1869, the year President Ulysses S. Grant drove in the golden spike that united the two halves of America's historic Transcontinental Railroad, the company commemorated the event by changing its name to The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and issuing trade cards emblazoned with Grant's image. By then, lithographed trade cards had become the most popular form of advertising in America. Cleverly combining the popularity of Ulysses S. Grant with the Victorian fascination for optical toys, the company encouraged its customers to stare at this card for a full 27 seconds in order to see a picture of the president.