The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company produced a very unique self-framed tin sign pictured here around 1900, which incorporated an old fashioned tea or in this case, a cocoa and chocolate party! This sign has proven to be a collector favorite and whenever it is at auction, if the condition is good, the value is also good. What makes this piece unique amongst collectors is it is not a stock piece. The Ghiradelli company was well known for their employment of artisans who made signs, stock cards, advertising posters and other items incorporating the company’s flagship chocolate in many scenes. This sign is more focused on their cocoa brand with a young girl having a sit down cocoa party with her favorite doll and a few stuffed animals. The colors are bright, and the scene is unusual. I think that combination has always made this sign a favorite with collectors.
THE GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE COMPANIES AMAZING LEGACY:
Started in 1852, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is the third oldest chocolate company in the U.S. after Baker’s Chocolate and Whitman’s. The company founder’s nephew, James Lick moved from Lima, Peru to Mexico in 1847 with 600 pounds of Peruvian chocolate and started his business there. When news broke of the California Gold Rush, his uncle sailed to California and after doing a bit of prospecting, literally struck gold when he opened a chocolate store in downtown San Francisco in 1850 at the corner of Battery and Broadway.
Eventually Ghirardelli made enough money to send for his family in Peru and he imported 200 pounds of cocoa which propelled his business into a vast array of goods, including seeds, coffee and spices. By 1900 he focused in on chocolates and mustard, and sold his interest in the coffee and spice markets. Further growth and expansion allowed the company which was eventually run by his three sons to become the household name we all know today. Thankfully through early advertising signs like the one pictured, and through Mr. Ghirardelli’s use of quality artists, many varieties of early advertising from this company are well known and sought after pieces.