Mechanical risque General cigar trade card

Description

This is a great trade card for the General Arthur Cigar maker Kerbs, Wertheim & Schiffer of New York that proves Victorians were not as ‘proper’ as their cultivated reputation deserves! It shows on the inside when unfolded a very risque image of a woman dressed in the ‘evening girl’ style of clothes for that era with her legs ‘spread’ (as the card suggested!), and a black pussy cat in front of her–which also gives us an approximate date for the ‘dirty’ connotation for this word!