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Sheet Music is

Advertising, Too!

By Jeremy Blum
Advertising and Sheet Music Collector
Board Member of the Antique Advertising Association of America

have long loved the color lithography of the late 1800s and collect
posters and trade cards from that period. Recently, I realized there Buy Now!
Iwas another advertising category in between those two sizes with the Sheet music is adver-
same quality lithography and often outstanding great graphics. tising. Like food labels on
cans and boxes, music was
sold in stores and the better
Sheet Music as Decorative Accompiament graphics caught the buyer’s
Sheet music for use in the home has eye. In the 1800s, using more
been around almost as long as there colors and more involved
have been printing presses. The earliest graphics was more expensive,
examples appear more utilitarian than so many publishers didn’t
artistic, mainly due to limits in printing bother. As printing methods
technology at the time. improved, sheet music contin-
In the 1840s, colorized sheet music ually improved the graphics on
started becoming regularly available the cover to set the scene of the
with imagery befitting the music it music it held inside.
held. Some of the best examples were
printed by the Sarony company of New
York City in the 1850s. Collecting Color
The Sarony Printing Company at Multi-color sheet music from the Sheet music makes an excel-
33 Union Square, New York City 1800s remains hard to find but it is lent collectible as it is easy to store
available, but it wasn’t until the 1890s and usually quite affordable.
that a significant portion of the sheet music was being printed in color. Most examples from the 1900s
Often there was only one or two colors plus black. Around 1900, color sell for $1 to $10 if they sell at all.
printing of sheet music quickly became predominant, and black and The color sheet music from the
white versions were phased out. mid to late 1800s is much harder
Until 1920, most sheet music was what collectors call large format to find and usually sells for $10
in size. These were about 13 1/2” x 10 1/2” in size give or take a half- to $100.
inch either way. Starting in 1920 the size shrunk to the letter size used If you are a history buff, it is
thereafter, which is 12” x 9”. The size of the printing presses and paper an interesting way to see
sheets became more standardized. American culture reflected
during the time these were
made. Until the 1930s, the
covers rarely showed the
singers known for the song.
The lyricist and music comp-
oser were usually different
from the singer and also
rarely shown. Before 1900,
ethnic stereotypes were used
in the same way as found on
trade cards from that era.

My Collection
I have broken my col-
lection into three periods.
I started with the hard-to-
find color sheet music from
1840 to 1900. More recent-
ly I started buying sheet
music from the 1920s when
the graphics were full of
flapper women and art deco
The J.W. Jenkins Sons Music Store, c. 1900 styles. It is more colorful and

26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles