Here is an interesting advertisement I came across in the online photo archives for the Library of Congress. The advertisement is for “Sure Catch” sticky fly paper, and it is estimated that this advertisement came out between 1853 and 1898, which would have been during that era when baseball was really beginning to develop and grow in popularity in America.
The advertisement features flies playing baseball surrounded by a number of insets depicting a variety of scenarios. The caption along the border reads: “‘Sure Catch’ sticky fly paper, 25 double sheets, Sealed with flexible adhesive border. Prepared by J. Hungerford Smith Co., Manufacturing Chemists, Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A.”
It’s a clever little advertisement, for sure, and I find some of the inset illustrations rather amusing. It makes me wonder if this sticky paper was as good as the fly paper my dad used to hang in the garage while I was growing up.
“Sure Catch” sticky fly paper. [Between 1853 and 1898] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2008678726/>.
those flies musta been having a ball….get it? Fly Ball…hee hee. sorry, bad joke.
😂😂😂 Sometimes bad jokes are just what the doctor ordered.