?The Adventures of Teasing Tom and Naughty Ned with a Spool of Clark’s O.N.T. Cotton. New York: F.B. Patterson, 1879.
Books printed as advertisements were frequently directed at children, as is the case of this chapbook hawking Clark’s cotton thread. Not only do Tom and Ned play hooky from school, but they use a spool of Clark’s Thread to strangle four ducks, leaving them for Granny Blobkin to roast. The naughty boys do not let the resourceful Granny enjoy her roast ducks; they use more of the thread to hook them up the chimney. The text all but absolves the boys from their bad behavior: “Boy’s pranks are soon forgotten, If after deeds are true and strong And useful–as Clark’s Cotton!”
