Victorian Trade Cards were a popular collectible for the victorian family from around 1875 through the very early 1900's. It seems that the real birthday of the color Victorian Trade Card was the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Thereafter they used by local merchants as an inexpensive way to advertise their products. They were mailed, passed out in the streets, included in bags and packages and given out within the store. Advances in the printing trade during the early period of trade cards also contributed to their popularity. The process of chromolithography which was the ability to print a full spectrum of color literally upon stones led to the creation of some absolutely stunning images. Some trade cards were beautiful, some humorous, some were puzzles, and some were risque. There were also mechanical cards which moved, diecut cards and hold to light cards where the image would change when the card was held to the light. Victorian families would collect the cards that appealed to them and paste them into scrap books. Tradecards are a great way to see the advertising, history, and culture which accompanied the proclaimed product/service. Many products sold in bottles used tradecards to promote the product. This guide will introduce you to the process of soaking Victorian Scrapbooks to remove the items. I want to start by saying that if I find a pristine scrapbook where the pages are all in tight with very little damage I do not soak it. My personal belief is that these beauties are so rare they should be left in tact. Having said that soaking is one of my favorite topics because I definitely had to spend some time researching how to do it and of course experimenting on my own. My inventory comes almost exclusively from scrap books so I have become an expert soaker. If you should happen to come upon a scrapbook and want to soak the cards off follow these steps. First you will need: A large sink or tub filled with clean water (cool to tepid) Old Towels Paper Towels (lots of them) Heavy Books or Wood planks A credit card or something like it White vinegar Sadly not all cards are soakable so best of luck. First you want to start with the least valuable page from the book. Submerge it in the clean water. If you are very lucky the cards will begin to separate from the page within 30 minutes and just float to the surface. If this is the case, go ahead and add more pages but don't put in more than you can handle. Remember this is a very time consuming process. If you have several pages in the water you will need to change it once or twice because the glue residue will stick to the cards and then the paper you press them between. Once the cards are separated, I run them under cool water and run my fingers over them to make sure the residue is gone. You can actually feel it on the cards. Then I put them on old towels for the first drying. After I have removed all the cards and they have gone through their first initial drying I put down new dry paper towels on sheets of wood. I put down about 3 layers of cards with dry towels between each layer and then I put down the next piece of wood. I build up the layers (kind of like a lasagna) until they are all pressed between the layers of wood. I then put a heavy weight on top. Then you leave them to dry. The longer the better but for at least 5 days. If you do it for less or don't use enough paper towels they will curl when you take them out. Troubleshooting My cards won't loosen from the page Try to soak them again in a little bit warmer water. Keep in mind this may cause the ink to run. I have found adding a little bit of white vinegar can also help loosen some cards. Add about a 1/4 cup per sinkload of water. My cards partially come loose Ahhh here is my favorite trick. Gently slide the credit card under the loosened portion of the card towards the sticky part. The card should slide right off. It's been 24 hours and my cards won't loosen at all. Sorry you have one of those rare scrapbooks that defies soaking. No point in even trying you will just destroy the cards. My cards are curling You probably did not remove enough water before pressing them or leave them to press long enough. There is not much that can be done if this occurs other than trying to dampen them and repress.