This unusual composited carte de visite photo advertises the low, low prices of the oddly-named grocer “76 Blax 76,” presumably named as such because the original location was located at 76 Western Avenue in Muskegon, MI. The business was founded in Muskegon by J.C. Black, and his brother T.K. Black. By 1883 they had sold their inventory and relocated to San Jose,

The image appears to be a photographic reproduction of a trade card, originally from a series of caricatures of prominent business tycoons. The portrait of Black was completed by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (“Kash”), an artist and illustrator best-remembered as the guy who painted dogs playing poker.