Lothrop Advertising Calendar

Here is a great calendar broadside advertisement for D. Lothrop & Co. The ad mentions three of Lothrop's magazines: Babyland, Wide Awake and the Little Folks' Reader.

Interestingly the entire 12 months of the year are shown on the one page of the ad with little vignettes of children for each month. What the ad does not reveal is what year it is for. Nowhere on the face of the ad id the year stated. Pretty bizarre, huh.

So what year is the ad for. There are a few hints.

D. Lothrop & Co. was in business from 1868-1887. After that the name was changed to D. Lothrop Co. On the calendar January 1rst is on a Saturday. That happened in 1870,1876, 1881, and 1887.

We can eliminate 1870 as the year because the Wide Awake magazine was introduced in 1874.
The Little Folks' Reader was initially started in 1880 so 1876 can also be eliminated as the year in question. By 1883 the periodical Wide Awake had a yearly subscription rate of $2.50. But in 1881 the yearly price was $2.00 just like on the ad.

Thus, this ad is for 1881.