GOLD PRINTED CLIPPER SHIP CARD.


SURE DISPATCH. Sutton & Co.'s Dispatch Line for San Francisco, Sailing Positively as Advertised ... The Popular A 1 First-Class Clipper Ship. ST JOHN.... New York: Nesbitt & Co., Printer, [1850s]. Gilt printed postcard, 86 x 150 mm. Corners bumped.The clipper ship industry sailing from New York to San Francisco blossomed between 1853 and the Civil War years, until it was eclipsed by steam and rail travel. Companies like this one, advertising a ship that had previously made the passage in an impressive 116 days, printed and distributed these cards to advertise their business. The St. John, with Scribner as master, "is Receiving her Cargo at Pier 19, East River, and will have the usual prompt dispatch of this line."