Mar 30, 2023 - Sale 2631

Sale 2631 - Lot 142

Price Realized: $ 10,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(BUSINESS.) Catalog of Color-Tone Christmas cards "designed and manufactured by Negroes . . . for Negroes." 33 greeting cards mounted on 9 leaves in a printed album with pricing and descriptive information. 4to, 13 x 11 inches, illustrated color wrappers bearing the title "Color-Tone Christmas 1963," moderate wear, some cracking to comb binding, rear cover detached; several manuscript notes throughout. Mount Vernon, NY: Color-Tone Originals, 1963

Additional Details

Each of these greeting cards has an original design with either Biblical or holiday scenes, almost all of them featuring Black faces (or hands). The holiday greetings within are personalized with the printed name of a generic sample family. Each one has a title, with pricing and ordering information.

Inside the front cover is a note explaining Color-Tone's philosophy: "Today, all over the country, Negroes are standing together in a never before equaled fight for the right to be free. . . . Here at Color-Tone, we, too, are involved. For over fourteen years we have been striving to give our people beautiful Christmas cards of their own. . . . Cards designed and manufactured by Negroes . . . for Negroes."

A few orders are inscribed in the book from different families, presumably by a local agent for Color-Tone. For example, a manuscript note appears next to the "Family Affair" card: "The Whites: Nettie & Frank & Lady (the dog)," choosing 40 cards for $3.50. Three of the named families can be traced to Kerrville, TX during this period. See also an advertisement for Color-Tone in the Howard Jubillee catalogue (lot 298).