Antique Civil War Broadside Ballad “Who Will Care for Mother Now?” G.P. Hardwick

As shown. See all photos. Rare. Found among my ancestors’ belongings, which I first examined upon my mother’s death. Circa 1863 or thereafter. War ballad by Charles Carroll Sawyer. Distributed in this instance by George P. Hardwick of Washington, D.C.

“The term broadside ballad usually connotes a song or poem (occasionally more than one) printed on one side of a single sheet of paper. Sold in the streets by itinerant vendors, broadside ballads ranged in size from tabloid-sized and larger sheets to small 4" x 8" slips of paper. As a general rule broadside ballads were, like newspapers, intended to be ephemeral, and were usually printed on the cheapest, thinnest papers. The quality of printing was usually poor: typographic errors, mixing of type faces and styles, and irregularity of punctuation were commonplace. This suggests that getting the ballads published and on the street while the news was still fresh was of primary importance.“

4.75” x 8”