Circa 1902 J. L. Hubbell Trade Card -- Navajo Blankets John Lorenzo Hubbell was known as "Don Lorenzo" to the whites and "Ol...

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Circa 1902 J. L. Hubbell Trade Card -- Navajo Blankets John Lorenzo Hubbell was known as "Don Lorenzo" to the whites and "Old Mexican" or "Double Glasses" to the Navajos. He was the premier trader of Indian products and, for 50 years on the reservation, he was known for his honesty in business dealings, for his hospitality to travelers, and for his wise counsel to his friends the Navajos. During the course of his life, Hubbell built a trading empire that included freight and mail lines as well as trading posts. At various times, he and his family owned over thirty trading posts, two wholesale stores, curio shops and bean and apple farms. Without a doubt, he was one of the foremost Navajo traders of his time. Hubbell provided his Navajo customers with merchandise and food, while promoting Navajo arts and crafts to the remainder of the country. In many ways Hubbell served as a bridge between the Navajo and Anglo cultures, increasing understanding between the two. He once said, "The first duty of an Indian trader, in my belief, is to look after the material welfare of his neighbors; to advise them to produce that which their natural inclinations and talent best adapts them; to treat them honestly and insist upon getting the same treatment from them...to find a market for their products and vigilantly watch that they keep improving in the production of same, and advise them which commands the best price..." Offered here is a stunning trade card from the early 1900s advertising his stores in Ganado and Keam's Canon, Arizona. It has a colored background in a Navajo blanket design and promotes his business of selling "Morqui and Oraibi Baskets, Dolls and Plaques, Silverware, Ancient and Modern Pottery and all kinds of Indian Curios", 4" x 3" in size, mint condition. Excellent item.

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