DESCRIPTION: Antique trade card advertising for John Cosgrove, a wholesale and retail dealer in fish, turtle, shrimps, crabs, pompano, red fish, snapper, and other seasonal fish at Poydras Market in New Orleans. Date is estimated as circa 1880.
The Poydras Market was a major public food market in 19th-century New Orleans, strategically located on Poydras Street near the Mississippi River and just west of the French Quarter. It was part of a network of municipal markets established to supply the city’s growing population with fresh produce, meats, and seafood. Its proximity to the riverfront made it an ideal site for offloading goods brought in by boat, especially the bounty of the Gulf—shrimp, crabs, pompano, redfish, turtle, and snapper were staples of the stalls.
The market was a bustling commercial hub where independent vendors, such as John Cosgrove, rented numbered stalls to sell seasonal goods. These vendors catered to a diverse clientele that included chefs, homemakers, and restaurateurs, all drawn by the variety and freshness of the offerings. The open-sided structure, typical of Southern markets, allowed for good airflow in the subtropical climate and fostered a lively, communal atmosphere filled with the sounds and scents of everyday commerce.
By the early 20th century, however, changes in transportation, refrigeration, and shopping habits began to erode the dominance of public markets. Poydras Market gradually declined and was eventually demolished—likely by the mid-20th century—as downtown New Orleans transformed into a modern commercial district. While the physical market is long gone, its name and legacy endure in the city’s culinary memory and in rare trade ephemera like this advertising card.
The illustration and quotation on this trade card were not unique to John Cosgrove but rather part of a stock design widely used by 19th-century printers who specialized in producing humorous or sentimental advertising cards. Lithographers commonly kept catalogs of ready-made comic scenes—like this seaside mother-and-child vignette with the line “It’s a wise child that knows its own mother at the sea side”—which merchants could customize by adding their own business imprint below. In this case, the printer simply inserted Cosgrove’s name, trade description, and Poydras Market address into the blank advertising panel at the bottom, allowing a small New Orleans fish dealer to benefit from professionally printed imagery at a fraction of the cost of commissioning original artwork.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1880
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: N/A
CONDITION: Good.
Verso with remanants from removal from a scrapbook.
COLORING:
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 3
" x
4 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 41
PRICE: $150
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