Item No: #307843 T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters. Tojiro Nakanishi.
T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters
T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters
T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters
T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters
T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters

Posters for a Japanese American Tailor, ca. 1918

T. Nakanishi, Merchant Tailor Promotional Posters

Notes: A scarce pair of posters from a Japanese immigrant tailor in Stockton. One, sponsored by Detmer Woolens company, is a 1918 calendar titled, "Immortal Leaders of the Army and Navy", with vignettes of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee at the top and other American military leaders below. The verso of the poster has short biographies of the men pictured on the front. Across the top is a tipped on sheet of paper reading "T. Nakanishi Merchant Tailor" with his address below.

The other poster reproduces a painting of George Washington at the Battle of Monmouth. Below the image is text in English; above is small font text in Japanese, suggesting Nakanishi marketed his business both to English- and Japanese-speaking clientele.

Promotional material from Japanese American businesses from the period are very uncommon. This is a particularly patriotic pair of posters.

According to the 1920 census, Nakanishi was born in 1877 and emigrated to the US in 1898. He is listed and advertised in the 1924 Japanese American News directory.

Both posters measure roughly 20 by 32 inches, with metal rims at the top and bottom.

Edition + Condition: The Immortal Leaders poster has a few edge tears but is otherwise very good. The George Washington poster probably once had a calendar stapled to it (now lost); there are small rust holes at the bottom and a rust stain near the top (from being rolled).

Publication: Stockton, CA: 1918.

Item No: #307843

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