Alfred Rogers (Grocer) - Victorian era public domain image

The Charles and Laura Dohm Shields Trade Card Collection is housed in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections Library at Miami University. Donated in 1987 by Charles Dohm Shields the collection contains several thousand advertising trade cards dating from the late 19th and early 20th Century. The collection was started by Charles's mother Laura Dohm Shields. Trade Cards were typically used to advertise products and services including such items as patent medicines, thread, sewing machines, food and beverages, farm equipment and others. Trade cards reached the height of their popularity during the 1880's and 1890's. Reduced postal rates and the rise of magazine publishing led to the eventual decline in popularity of this unique American form of advertising.

In 1860s, a bathing outfit could weigh as much as 20 pounds and cover up as much as the full street dress. Later, lighter-weight version features a knee-length gored skirt that buttons over a one-piece romper, topped off with a jaunty cap appeared. By the end of the 19th-century people were flocking to the oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities such as swimming, surf bathing, and diving. A need for a new style bathing suit that retained modesty but was free enough to allow the young lady to engage in swimming was obvious. By 1910 bathing suits no longer camouflaged the contours of the female body. The yards of fabric used in Victorian bathing skirts and bloomers were reduced to show a little more of the figure and to allow for exposure to the sun.