08/28/2026
Norwegian Nose-Hose... Problems...
-- On ebay = https://www.ebay.com/itm/307150113567...
-- Once again, I couldn't resist. My last post discussed "rounded corners." In this post, I'll discuss (tongue-in-cheek // tube-in-nose) problems as illustrated with a Norwegian Balm for Catarrh folder card that I recently listed on ebay. The folder was cut in half by the original collector over 130 years ago. The "problem" is that many dealers might innocently list each half of this folder as a complete card. Let's discuss:
-- First ... to be clear... this is NOT actually an "animated" item. The video with this listing is a fiction! AI video generation tools were used to create the video with this listing... just for fun. The disaster at the end of the video was my way of suggesting "The Problem" if the product's "Check Spring" failed to function.
-- Secondly, and more seriously, let's discuss panel "problems" with this (and similar) trade card folders.
-- The makers of the Norwegian Balm for Catarrh issued numerous versions of this folder.
MANY companies that issued folders, like this one, used several basic images and text in multiple ways, often issuing versions of the same advertising both as "traditional" trade cards as well as folding cards with multiple panels. (Additionally, many of these firms adapted images for company almanacs, newspaper ads and box inserts.)
-- Typically, "traditional" trade cards were printed on heavy card stock; folders typically used quality paper stock.
BUT... not always. Sometimes folders were printed on traditional card stock; 100 years later, card stock folders often have "cracked" and separated along the crease lines where the card was folded.
BTW, advertising folders that were printed on paper stock tend to hold up better with less separation issues.
-- BUT... MANY trade cards were printed on paper stock, and they were never meant to be folded.
SO... "paper stock" itself does not assure whether the item was originally a folder panel.
CARD DEALERS... often present an item as "complete" when it is actually only a single panel from a lager folder piece. This can be an honest mistake, especially if the dealer has never seen a complete folder version of the item. Honest dealers will note when a "card" is actually only a folder panel when they know such is the case, but all dealers are not equally honest. And many "dealers" remain surprisingly (or intentionally) ignorant about much of the material they are selling.
-- THIS FOLDER... (Norwegian Balm) is particularly tricky because the front graphic is vertical and the back image was printed horizontally. The original Victorian scrap-booking preservationists wanted an attractive page, so they cut the folder in half, then rotated the back panel and glued it with a horizontal orientation to match the front.
-- Nearly every example of this folder that I've ever seen has been cut. Countless examples of both panels of this folder have been sold over the years as if each panel was a complete card. And again, I've also bought versions of these 2 panels which were authentic complete individual trade cards as issued; they were NOT merely panels from the folder version.
BOTTOM LINE... I just thought I'd share this info with fellow collectors and dealers who've been trying to figure out some of the challenges and problems with card variants / paper stock / folders and detached panels.
-- For more historically fascinating "snapshots" into the past, as well as to view general images of 19th Century Life and Victorian culture, visit my ebay store (https://www.ebay.com/str/oldcardsatdavesgreatcardsgalore)
