"Woman Advertising J.M. Dolph, Furniture Maker and Undertaker," Cabinet card, circa 1877

Woman Advertising J.M. Dolph, Furniture Maker and Undertaker
W. Peppets Art Gallery, Homer, Michigan
Cabinet card, circa 1877

A peculiar advertising photographic pictorial was devised during the 1870s. Women were posed holding signs heralding businesses, their dresses and bodies decorated with life-size objects related to the business. This woman’s hat is adorned with rings from coffin robes. On her chest, she sports a coffin plate, and above and beneath that plate are handles from a coffin. Around her neck is another coffin plate, and coffin chains and paraphernalia hang from her dress. Furniture makers became coffin makers as a natural extension of woodworking skills. The large frame [on the skirt of her dress] indicates this establishment also made frames.

From the wonderful Sleeping Beauty II - Grief, Bereavement and the Family in Memorial Photography by Stanley B. Burns, M.D.

As posted on Liquid Night and picked up by Turn of the Century.

Wolcott's Instant Pain Annihilator, Medical Advertisement, 19th C?

Apparently, this medication vanquishes many demons, and they are named and noted, for your convenience, in the text of the advert. "Fig 1. Demon of Catarrh, Fig 2. Demon of Neuralgia, Fig 3. Demon of Headache, Fig 4. Demon of Weak Nerves, and Fig 5. Demons of toothache." Looks like it might also do a number of death itself, from the lurking skeleton to the right who seems to be without a signifying figure number.

Click image to see a larger copy and read the text (and match it with the demons) for yourself. Found on the wonderful Monster Brains Blog.