Eight (8) Illustrated Cards for Teaching Hygiene and International Friendship, Tolerance

New York, New York: Cleanliness Institute, 1927. Near-fine. Minor toning.. A series of eight (8) illustrated cards depicting personal hygiene and cleanliness practices around the world, with an emphasis on international friendship and tolerance. The illustrations originally appeared in Grace T. Hallock's "After the Rain: Cleanliness Customs of Children in Many Lands", published by the same publisher in 1927; this series was produced separately as a teaching tool. Each of the scenes depict children of different cultures in happy or playful situations, getting clean. The cards include: Africa ("Pet Parrot Has an Unexpected Shower Bath"); England ("The Tin Tub is Part of the Fun of Life"); Finland ("Steam Baths in a Land of Snow and Ice"); Holland ("Braving the Wrath of a Little Dutch Housewife"); Italy ("The Street Fountain is a Gathering Place"); Japan ("Before the Temple Door--Clean Hands as a Sign of a Pure Heart"); Poland ("From the Well Comes the Water for the Bath"); and Sweden ("Baby Gets His Bath").

Also serves as a good example of the West's unfortunate tendency to conflate all of Africa's diverse nations and cultures into a singular entity in the 20th century.

Eight (8) illustrated cards measuring approx. 7.25" by 5.5", versos blank, printed on card. Blue ink stamps of Belva Swalwell to upper right-hand corners. Swalwell was an educator and author of pedagogical resources, and most likely used these as a classroom teaching tool or decoration. The Cleanliness Institute was a New York-based institute dedicated to teaching the public about the importance of hygiene and public health at a time when urban populations were booming in the first half of the 20th century.