J. H Bufford’s & the Art of Whiskey Cards

 

The not-so subtle humor of a liquor trade card entitled “Five O’Clock in the Morning”  led me to the artist whose name appears below the image of the squalling babies and their apparent father.  The illustrator was John Henry Bufford, shown here,  the first employer and art teacher of Winslow Homer and in his time a successful competitor of Currier & Ives.  Subsequently overshadowed by both, Bufford’s prowess as a highly creative American illustrator unfortunately has been largely forgotten. 

John Henry Bufford

Shown below is a billhead from 1859 in which Bufford describes himself as a “practical lithographer,” meaning that he was turning out not just attractive pictures but items such as maps, covers for sheet music, and “show cards,” usually referred to today as trade cards.  On many of those cards an illustration would fill two-thirds, leaving space for a message by a liquor dealer such as Benjamin J. Holl & Son of Philadelphia whose flagship brand was “Riverside Whiskey.”  Holl trade cards designed by Bufford’s firm can be found throughout this post.

Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Bufford apprenticed in Boston and by 1835 briefly moved to New York, where he opened a lithography business. Five years later he returned to Boston and formed a partnership with his brother-in-law in a new lithographic printing firm, for which he did most of the drawing. The business, with and without his brother-in-law as partner, thrived for the next forty years.

As the company matured and lithographic techniques improved, Bufford remained among the leaders.   He employed what he called “the best talent in the world” as his artists.  Winslow Homer was put to work in his studio at age 19 drawing covers for sheet music.

The trade cards drawn for Holl often had competitions depicted.  They ranged from horse races to rowing contests, both men and women.  One of the most inventive depicted a large wheel bicycle race that seemingly was endangering a pair of cats.  

The back of such cards typically featured testimonials to the quality and purity of Holl’s whiskey.  The statements almost always were attributed to individuals with scientific backgrounds.  Many were identified as “analytical chemists.”  Their comments were critical of “fusel oil” for contaminating other whiskey brands— a product declared not to be found in Holl’s liquor.  That claim ignored the presence of fusel oil as a natural product of the distilling process.

After Bufford's death in 1870, his sons Frank G. Bufford and John Henry Bufford, Jr. continued the business. By 1879, "J.H. Bufford's Sons, Manufacturing Publishers of Novelties in Fine Arts" worked from offices at 141-147 Franklin Street, Boston; and in 1881–1882 expanded the enterprise as far as New York and Chicago.  The company continued to turn out attractive and inventive images. Its lithographs are found today in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. and other galleries. The Bufford legacy lives on.