by Ben Crane

The American Cereal Co. issued a set of 12 trade cards as souvenirs of the 1893 World's Fair. These cards copied a set of paintings displayed at the American Cereal Co. exhibit and titled "The Procession Of The Seasons." The artists were H. Dalton Jones (1848 - 1927) and his brother Francis C. Jones (1857 - 1932) whose names appear on the first 11 cards.

Henry D. Seymour and William Heston established the Quaker Mill Co. in Ravenna, OH, and registered the now-famous trademark in 1877. In 1888, Quaker merged with six other companies to form the American Cereal Co. The combined company used the Quaker Oats name for its products and then took it for the corporate name in 1901 when the headquarters was placed in Chicago.

These 5 x 7-1/2 inch cards were printed by Armstrong & Co. Lith. Boston, and copyrighted 1893 by The American Cereal Co. They were sold at the American Cereal Exhibit for 25 cents each or could be mailed as a premium for product orders placed at the exhibit.

Shown below from left to right and top to bottom are thumbnail images (at 25 percent of actual size) of an envelope used to mail these cards, the 12 trade cards forming the set, and the reverse sides of two of the cards. The first 11 cards of the set show the sequence of producing the Quaker Oats from planting to manufacture and distribution, and the 12th shows the Pavilion at the fair.

These cards were again used in 1901 at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, and the last thumbnail shows the American Cereal Co. exhibit at that fair.

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, or begin viewing the cards in slideshow fashion by clicking here.

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