In the late 19th century, between 1850 and 1890, ship owners and shipping lines announced the departure of their ships by means of printed cards instead of advertising in newspapers or via broadsides, as they had previously done. These sailing cards were typically four to five inches by five to seven inches in size, and were distributed to shippers and potential passengers to announce impending journeys. As mentioned by Bruce Roberts, in his book, Clipper Ship Sailing Cards, the "cards announced that Ship A would leave Departure Point B for Destination C on or before Date D and you should contact Agent E if you had goods and/or yourself to transport." (Roberts 1) Roberts also indicates that use of these cards was "the most substantial of any class of American advertising cards" during the mid-to-late 19th century. Aimed for a specific audience, very few of these cards were printed for a specific voyage. While some cards were printed in black and white, the majority of them were printed in color, representing "the first pronounced use of color in American advertising art" (Roberts 2).

Typically the cards were printed on coated stock, also known as enameled stock, utilizing letterpress techniques to print the cards and wood engraving for the images. Additional techniques included woodcut and lithography. As chromolithography techniques progressed with accompanying changes in machinery and ink, the need for coated stock was removed and the options for design and color advanced providing options to overprint as many as 7 colors. Some of the cards in the collection used embossing techniques to create the images. George F. Nesbitt from New York printed many of the sailing cards; other printers included A. E. Ivers, Stationer and Printer; Carr, Dunn & Newhoff Printers; Rand, Avery & Co., Printers; Blair & Hallet, Printers; Fred Rogers, Steam Job Printer; and Watson's Press. The Phillips Library collection includes cards printed by each of these organizations.

Typically the ships were referred to as clipper ships, which designated the speed at which the journeys were made. At the height of the California Gold Rush, ships were built to travel faster and faster to reach the West Coast; the clipper ships' sharp hull lines and heavy sparring enabled increased speeds of passage. Prior to this change in boat design, a trip from Boston or New York to San Francisco could take as long as 300 days; the increased speed of the ships shortened these journeys to between 100 and 120 days.

Examples of American, British, German, and Norwegian barks (barques) are included in this collection. The American clipper ship was considered to be faster than its British and European counterparts. Ports of origin included Boston, New York, and San Francisco, with destinations to San Francisco, New York, London, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Christchurch, Dunedin, Lyttleton, and Wellington in New Zealand, and Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Many of the cards announced the duration of previous journeys as an enticement to attract passengers and/or indicated the number of times the ship had made the voyage. The ship master's name was printed on most cards; many cards identified where the ship had been built, sometimes including the name of the builder. Several cards use the phrase Succeeding the (name of ship) to indicate the current vessel was traveling the same journey as the ship mentioned. Most cards do not include the exact date of sail because ship owners did not want to sail until the ship had a full cargo; others used the phrase To Sail positively on or before the advertised day. Rarely was the year of the voyage printed on the card so that the card could be used to advertise several voyages. However, many of the cards include the actual date the card was created by the printer. Allan Forbes and Ralph Eastman note in their book, Yankee Ship Sailing Cards, that Henry W. Peabody of Boston was one of the first ship owners to experiment with sailing his ships on a specific date to avoid the problems of a ship remaining in dock for weeks or months "to sail when laden." (Forbes and Eastman x) Other shipping companies represented in the collection include: Neal & Crowninshield Australasian Packet Line; Australian Commercial Line; Coleman's California Line; Henry C. Brooks and Co.; Brooks Australian Line; Vernon Brown & Son; Glidden & Williams; Merchants' Express Line; Samuel Stevens & Co. Australian Line; Sutton & Co.; Sutton's Dispatch Line; and Winsor's Regular Line.

The clipper ship trade started to decline with the introduction of the steamship. Although the sailing ships were typically faster than the steamships, the latter was not at the mercy of the wind and weather to complete their journeys. The Phillips Library collection also includes advertising cards for steamships in Series II.