August Flower and German Syrup Almanac for the Year 1911

Woodbury, New Jersey: G.G. Green, 1911. Very good, light edge wear, light toning, a nick to bottom of spine.. A nicely preserved copy of G.G. Green's almanac for 1911, published to promote his line of mail-order medicines to the public. Contains weather and astronomical predictions, pitches for Green's medicines, blank monthly charts for recording information, and a veritable flight of cartoons with jokes offensive to women, African Americans, and the Irish, painting a very specific picture of Green's target audience. The cover illustration is very interesting, and depicts Uncle Sam sitting on a bench reading the almanac, with stereotyped cartoon versions of England, Germany, and China looking over his shoulder. It appears as though Russia and France are also barely in the frame. On the back are four cartoon children climbing greasy poles to get to Green's medicine at the top subtitled "Climbing the Greasy Poles: A Prize Worth Any Effort". Notice the stereotypes at play. From left to right: the Netherlands (a girl who is playing dirty), America (in the lead), England (distracted by Ireland), and Ireland (apparently drunk and impoverished). Provides really fascinating insight into how Americans viewed world powers and national identities at this time. Single vol. (9" by 6.75"), pp. 32, illus., in original illus. wrps printed in orange and blue. 1 copy in WorldCat (Feb. 2025). George Gill Green (1842-1925) served as a surgeon in the Union army during the Civil War, and went on to start his wholesale drug business in 1867. Green was one of the most successful early patent medicine entrepreneurs, and built a successful clientele based on a mail-order business model.