Color print of numerous carriages and horses on the road in front of a four-story white building identified as "Brighton Hotel"
Description
A color print of a four-story white frame hotel (Brighton Hotel) with shuttered windows and a veranda that extends around it. Next to it is another hotel building, a covered breezeway to shelter horses, and a long horse shed. The large yard in front of the complex is filled with horses and carriages, some out of the driver’s control and threatening to collide. There are sulkys, box wagons, and a handsome coach for four and a driver. The people are quite fashionably dressed. This is part of a pair that includes a winter scene.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Howe was a Boston lithographer in the 1870’s, having his business on School Street and then Hanover Street. He was an artist often listed as a lithographer.
This black and white allegorical print depicts the course of destruction through drinking. A train with its engine labeled "Distillery" is stopped at "Drunkard's Curve Station". The train is leaving a tranquil valley and heading toward doom with skeletons and snakes in the background. The print has a considerable amount of descriptive and interpretive text.
This print was created by the artist Emil F. Ackermann, who was born in Dresden, Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1848. Ackermann eventually went to work for the lithography firm of J.H. Bufford and Sons, which produced the lithograph in the 1860s.
It was issued by the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance and published by Reverend Steadman Wright Hanks in his book The Crystal River Turned Upon the Black Valley Railroad and Black Valley Country -- A Temperance Allegory (also known as The Black Valley: The Railroad and the Country). Hanks called the print "probably the most successful temperance lecture in the country." Stedman Wright Hanks (1811-1889) was a Congregational minister in Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as an author, artist, and fervent supporter of both the temperance and anti-slavery movements. Hanks spoke to audiences around the United States about the evils of overindulging in alcohol. In addition to his book about the Black Valley Railroad, his published works included Sailor Boys, or, Light on the Seaand Mutineers of the "Bounty and compiled a temperance song book and served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court. He is also noted for performing the sermon commemorating John Quincy Adams death at the St. John Street Congregational Church.
This print was produced by J. Mayer and Company. Julius Mayer was a lithographer in Boston from 1857-1872. He was associated with Prang & Mayer (1857-1860), Mayer & Stetfield (1861-1862), and J. Mayer & Co. (1863-1872). His prints included scenes of Boston and Portland, Maine.
Before Emancipation, the term “contraband” was used to refer to former slaves who had escaped and made their way to Union lines. This 1862 print depicts a young, previously-enslaved girl who has been intercepted by Federal troops. She smiles as the Union officer on the right lifts her onto a gun carriage. A caption below the illustration explains, “And her little limbs had, perhaps, become strengthened by some vague dream of liberty, to be lost or won, in that hurried night march.” To the right of these lines, the print contains the facsimile signature of Nathaniel P. Banks, the officer depicted on horseback who points towards the girl. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Lincoln selected Banks as one of the first major generals of volunteers. Before the war, he had served as Speaker of the House of Representatives and then as the Governor of Massachusetts. He lacked prior military experience, however, and many of his military engagements resulted in defeat. Despite these failures, this print focuses on the general’s continuing commitment to the abolitionist cause.
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
After Lincoln’s assassination, Northern families often displayed in their homes lithographic prints of the man they believed to be the savior of their nation. This colored print from shortly after Lincoln’s death depicts an interior scene of his assassination at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865. John Wilkes Booth wields a blood stained knife and jumps from the box where Lincoln sits slumped in his chair. Mary Todd Lincoln attends to her husband while the surrounding spectators exhibit hysteria and alarm. The Lincolns’ box, depicted as extremely small and overcrowded, contains their guests, Major Henry R. Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris, although another unidentified female onlooker also occupies the box. Lincoln's guard had earlier left his post, so he is not depicted. On the top of the box railing rest a pair of opera glasses and a program, inscribed, “Ford's Theat../ American Cousin,” which is the name of the play being performed that night. Oddly, the audience on the first floor of Ford's Theater appears to be viewing the events from the same level as the box, which makes Booth's leap one story down to the stage seem like a short hop over the box parapet to the floor. Prints of the assassination were in such demand immediately after the event that printmakers paid little attention to the accuracy of the depictions.
The artist of this work, James E Baker (1837-1914), began as an apprentice at J. H. Bufford & Co. in 1857. He eventually became John Bufford’s principal draftsman and illustrator of sheet music. He worked in NYC in 1860-1867 and specialized in portrait prints. During the Civil War he produced, for Bufford, political cartoons and lithographs relating the national drama. He later worked for Armstrong & Company, remaining active until 1888.
Color print of a trotting horse (Ethan Allen) pulling a wagon on a track.
Description
A color print of a liver bay trotting horse with a harness pulling driver along a track.
Ethan Allen was foaled on June 18, 1849 by Joel W.Holcomb of Ticonderoga, NY. He was sired by Vermont Black Hawk, a distant descendant of the thoroughbred Messenger, and birthed by Poll. On the Holcomb farm, he was treated as a family pet, admiration that continued through his public career. Orville S. Roe of Shoreham, Vermont, bought half an interest in the colt, so during his earlier years, he was owned jointly by Holcomb and Roe. That was the beginning of his many owners. In 1862 he was sold to Frank Baker, who, after a time, sold him to Dan Mace and I. D. Walton. In 1866 he was purchased by J. E. Maynard of Boston, who sold him to Eph. Simmons, but afterwards bought him back, and again sold him, November 5th, 1868, to Wesley P. Balch of Boston, who in turn sold him to Col. H. S. Russell of Milton, Massachusetts. Ethan Allen was known for being the most handsome trotter in the races and had one of the longest racing careers, spanning 18 seasons. In 1853 he set the 4-year-old record of 2:36. In 1858 he reduced the stallion record to 2:28 for the mile. The great achievement of his life occurred on June 21, 1867, when, at age eighteen, and hitched with a running mate, he defeated Dexter, at the Fashion Course in Long Island in 2:15, 2:16 and 2:19. He won a total of 33 races, 22 in a single harness. His titles included Champion Trotting Stallion of the World, Champion of the World at Four Years of Age, and Champion of the World to Pole, with a best time of 2:25 ½. Ethan Allen was highly popular at stud, with his fees reaching $500. He produced six under 2:30 trotters. Ethan Allen died at Sprague and Akers Farm, owned by Colonel Amasa in Lawrence Kansas on September 10, 1876 at age 27 and was buried at the entrance of the trotting course in Kansas, with a monument to commemorate his career. Later, his skeleton was exhumed and displayed at the Museum of Natural History in Lawrence. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 as an “Immortal.” The popular trotting horse weather vane was based upon his silhouette.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Color print of a dark brown trotting horse pulling a sulky and driver.
Description
A color print of a dark brown stallion with white nose and stockings on his back feet, and a black mane, tail, and legs. He is pulling a jockey on sulky. His equipment is light weight and designed to promote speed. The jockey wears a white shirt, long pants, and a billed cap. The track is bordered by grassy fields and woods. Low hills are in the distance.
Great Eastern was a descendant of Hambletonian bred in New York. He was one of Smuggler’s principle rivals. They faced off at Mystic Park on October 16, 1876 to a crowd of 3000 people, where Great Eastern was beaten. In the rematch scheduled for October 20, Great Eastern, driven by A.J. Feek beat Smuggler with a time of 2:21. He went on to win thirteen more times between 1875 and 1883, traveling as far as Illinois.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based publisher of lithographs, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they prospered for a few years. They went bankrupt in 1878.
Color and black and white prints bound together illustrating the scenery and geology of Massachusetts. There are nine views 1) Autumnal Scenery. View in Amherst. 2) A View in Hadley. 3) Gorge Between Holyoke and Tom. 4) West View from Holyoke. 5) South Hadley Falls. 6) Sugar Loaf Mountain, Deerfield. 7) Confluence of Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers. 8) Turner's Falls. 9) Gorge of Glen, -Leyden; four plates containing drawings of organic remains; four maps of sections in Massachusetts and Connecticut; and a "Tabular View of the Rocks and their embedded Minerals in Massachusetts".
This print depicts a scene of Union soldiers trading goods with their former Confederate adversaries in the village of Appomattox Court House, where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. Captured Confederate cannons and ammunition are visible behind the soldiers. The print also contains four corner vignettes, which show a view of the Appomattox Court House in the upper left; a view of the McLean house, where Grant and Lee met to discuss the terms of surrender, in the upper right; a scene in which soldiers cut apart the apple tree under which Grant and Lee were reported to have held an initial interview in the lower right (this meeting never actually took place); and an illustration of the crossing of the Linchburg and Danville Railroads near Burksville Station in the lower left.
Elbridge Wesley Webber (1839-1914) was born in Gardiner, Maine, and served during the Civil War in the 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and the design of this print comes from a sketch he made of the village. After the war, he settled in Boston, paintings seascapes and scenes of sailing ships.
This print was published by the lithographer James H. Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
Color print of a bay trotting horse pulling sulky and driver.
Description
A color print of a bay horse pulling a sulky and jockey on a track. His equipment is designed for speed. The jockey wears a jacket, white shirt, long pants, and billed cap. A grassy pasture with pond and trees borders the track, with low hills in the distance.
Rarus was bred by R.B. Conklin upon his retirement in New York in the early 1800s. His dam was called Nancy Awful because she had terrible tantrums, but Conklin bred her to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian to produce a stunning bay trotting prospect. Rarus was marked as a future champion from birth, and Conklin gave him an over-abundance of attention compared to the other horses on the farm. In his first practice race at age three, Rarus trotted the mile in three minutes. Rarus won his first scrub race at age six under the training of James Meade on August 21, 1874 in Long Island, winning a purse of $800. He was then transferred to Brooklyn to train under James Page and lowered his record to 2:28 ½ in one season. His early rival, Kansas Chief, was a former cowpony, and the two went back and forth in winnings for two seasons before Conklin changed Rarus’ driver to John Splan. Rarus was then entered in the Grand Circuit, where he won continuously for two years. Conklin continually turned down offers for the horse up to $45,000 because he believed the same amount of money could be won in purses. Rarus was hailed as “King of the Turf” for a short time after beating Goldsmith Maid’s on August 3, 1878 in Buffalo. His time, 2:13 1/4, was promoted as the “Greatest Achievement on Record.” Z.E. Simmons finally purchased Rarus for $36,000, but the sale was poorly timed. Because it was to take place before an exhibition, track officials were furious and banned both Rarus and Conklin from all tracks forever. With no choice, Simmons sent Rarus to Robert Bonner’s farm. Rarus was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1978 as an “Immortal.”
Identified as the President’s House, this early view of the White House is a black and white line engraving depicting a Greek Revival-style building with two stories and a lower level. The image, a view during the Jackson presidency, features the South Portico and curved paths framed by brick walls.
During this period much attention was given to the grounds, walks, shrubbery, and flower gardens, which were the pride of the president, the White House gardener John Ousley, and city gardener Jemmy Mahler. The White House was popularly known as President’s House, President’s Mansion, or President’s Palace during the period. It was formally named the Executive Mansion from 1810 until 1901 until Theodore Roosevelt established the name White House–Washington. This print is similar to prints of British and European palaces and estates, proclaiming a national pride in the home of the American president. The print would have been published in a view book with other like engravings and purchased as a gift, commemorative, or souvenir of Washington by an affluent member of society.
The publishing company Carter, Andrews & Co. was based out of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Established in the 1830’s, the original drawing appears to have been created by H. Brown during this period but may have been published later. The engraver may have been Samuel Walker or J. Andrews but is not indicated on the print.
A color print of a galloping horse and jockey. It is black with a white nose and rear stockings.
Longfellow was bred in 1867 by John Harper on Nantura Stock Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Harper also owned the famous sires Lexington and Glencoe. Longfellow’s sire was Leamington and his dam was Nantura. At 17.0 hands, he was an above-average height for a racer, so Harper had to postpone his training until the colt grew into his size. Harper claimed he named the horse after his long legs. His racing career began when Longfellow turned 3. The beginning of Longfellow’s racing career was marked by several unfortunate events. He lost his first race, and then in 1871 before a match Harper’s siblings were murdered at his estate by a jealous nephew. Harper would have been killed as well, had he not been sleeping in Longfellow’s stall. After this event, Longfellow’s career began to accelerate, and he won 13 of his 16 starts in 1871, frequenting the tracks at Monmouth and Saratoga. Longfellow eventually earned the name “King of the Turf.” The match against Harry Bassett took place in Longfellow’s last season in the Monmouth Cup of 1872 where they were the only two horses entered. Longfellow beat Harry Bassett by over 100 yards. They met again in the Saratoga Cup, but at the start Longfellow twisted his foot. He managed to catch up to Harry Bassett and only lost by a length, but it was the last race of his racing career. His total earnings amounted to $11,200. At stud, Longfellow sired two Kentucky Derby winners and became the leading sire of 1891. Longfellow died on November 5, 1893 at age 26 and his grave was the second grave in Kentucky to be erected for a racehorse. Longfellow was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1971.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based lithograph publisher, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but a year later in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they did well until they went bankrupt in 1878.
This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days Battle, he withdrew to the James River, 20 miles from Richmond. Lincoln then called for the Army of the Potomac to return to Washington, D.C. The failure of the Peninsula Campaign crushed the morale of Union forces, who believed the capture of the Confederate capital would bring about an end to the fighting.
In the background of this print, long trains of covered wagons and troops of the Army of the Potomac retreat from Chickahominy to the James River. In the foreground, some soldiers cross Bear Creek while others rest on its banks. General George McClellan is visible at the bottom of the print on a white horse, looking out upon the withdrawal of his forces. This print is identical to another by Bufford, which has the less cynical title – “The Army of the Potomac.”
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) was born in New Hampshire and began his career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he accompanied the Union Army and made sketches from 1861 to 1863, and worked as a print publisher in Boston from 1863 to 1865. Union officers often commented on the accuracy of his artwork. He documented scenes of the War, particularly at Gettysburg and created a guidebook to the battle in 1873. From 1883 to 1887 he served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, during which time he wrote a detailed history of Gettysburg from the Union perspective.
This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days Battle, he withdrew to the James River, 20 miles from Richmond. Lincoln then called for the Army of the Potomac to return to Washington, D.C. The failure of the Peninsula Campaign crushed the morale of Union forces, who believed the capture of the Confederate capital would bring about an end to the fighting.
In the background of this print, long trains of covered wagons and troops of the Army of the Potomac retreat from Chickahominy to the James River. In the foreground, some soldiers cross Bear Creek while others rest on its banks. General George McClellan is visible at the bottom of the print on a white horse, looking out upon the withdrawal of his forces. This print is identical to another by Bufford, which has the more cynical title – “The Retreat.”
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) was born in New Hampshire and began his career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he accompanied the Union Army and made sketches from 1861 to 1863, and worked as a print publisher in Boston from 1863 to 1865. Union officers often commented on the accuracy of his artwork. He documented scenes of the War, particularly at Gettysburg and created a guidebook to the battle in 1873. From 1883 to 1887 he served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, during which time he wrote a detailed history of Gettysburg from the Union perspective.
This 1861 posthumous portrait of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth shows the Union colonel standing in uniform, arms folded, with his sword on his left hip. Originally born New York in 1837, Ellsworth later moved to Illinois, where he found employment in Abraham Lincoln’s Springfield law office in 1860. He assisted Lincoln in his 1860 presidential campaign, accompanying the president-elect to Washington in 1861. Before the war, Ellsworth returned to his native New York City to raise the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment to put down the rebellion. A student of military history and science, Ellsworth was fascinated by the Zouaves, France’s colonial soldiers in Algeria. He emulated the drills and methods of this group when training his regiment and even based the design of his men’s uniforms on those of the Zouaves. Since many of the regiment’s enlistees came from New York’s volunteer fire departments, the unit earned the nickname, the “Fire Zouaves.”
On May 24th, 1861, the day after Virginia secession, Ellsworth entered Alexandria with soldiers from the 11th New York to aid in the city’s occupation, He was determined to remove a large rebel flag that had flown above one of the city’s inns for weeks and had even been visible through a spyglass from the White House. After removing the flag, he was shot by the inn’s pro-slavery owner, and became the first Union officer to be killed during the Civil War. In death, Ellsworth became a martyr for the Union cause and he was celebrated in printed illustrations, poems, and ballads. His legacy remained an inspiration for young Northern soldiers throughout the war, and “Remember Ellsworth!” quickly became a favorite rallying cry.
This print was published by the lithographer Jon Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he developed a reputation for printing and publishing popular prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
The artist of this work, Joseph E. Baker (1837-1914), began as an apprentice at J. H. Bufford & Co. in 1857, eventually becoming John Bufford’s principal draftsman and illustrator of sheet music. He worked in NYC in 1860-1867 and specialized in portrait prints. During the Civil War he produced political cartoons and lithographs for Bufford. He later worked for Armstrong & Company, remaining active until 1888.
This colored broadside advertises “The Great Moving Mirror of Slavery,” a travelling panoramic painting exhibited in New England in 1858. According to the inscription, it was on display in the Methodist Church. Purported to reveal “Slavery As It Is,” this poster contains two preview illustrations. One shows a young girl lying in a canopied bed attended by a doctor, as her mother and a black man sit nearby. The other image depicts a white man riding a bucking horse as three black men and a black woman watch. Headings on the poster advertise, “Scenes in Africa,” an “Auction Sale of Slaves,” and “Life-Like Scenes!” The exhibit also promises a personal appearance by Anthony Burns.
Burns (1834-1862) was born a slave in Stafford County, Virginia in 1834, became a Baptist preacher,and escaped to Boston in 1853/1854. The next year, he was captured and put on public trial, inspiring protest by thousands of abolitionists. Several people were arrested and wounded, while they attempted to free Burns and a U.S. Marshall was fatally stabbed. Under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act, Burns was returned to his "owner" in Virginia. In 1855, Leonard Grimes, a free black Baptist minister bought Burns’ freedom. Burns then travelled north and studied theology at Oberlin College in Ohio and emigrated to Canada and worked as a non-ordained minister . In 1858, he toured with “The Great Moving Mirror,” using the opportunity to sell copies of narrative of his life to sympathetic anti-slavery Northerners. He died in 1862 of tuberculosis at the age of 28, having never regained his health after enduring several months in a Richmond slave jail.
The print was created by the firm of J.H. & F.F. Farwell & Gordon Forrest. The three men founded a Boston lithographic firm active around the middle of the 19th century. Gordon Forrest enlisted in Company G of the First Massachusetts Infantry during the Civil War. He was killed on July 18, 1861, during a skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia, one of the first engagements of the conflict. Little is known about J.H. and F.F. Farwell. The printers were also known as Farwells & Forest.
This 1850 print offers a defense of slavery in America by satirically comparing it with a perceived system of “wage slavery” in England. In the top panel, two Northern men and two Southern men look upon a group of seemingly content slaves who are shown dancing, playing music, and smiling. The Northerners are surprised at this scene, amazed to find that popular assumptions at home about slavery were unfounded. The Southerners hope that the Northerners will return home with a new perspective on slavery, but demonstrate their readiness to fight for their rights if necessary. The lower panel shows a gathering of people outside of a cloth factory in England. On the side of the factory, a sign reads, “Sale / A Wife to be Sold.” On the left, a young farmer talks to his childhood friend, who appears as an old man. The older figure explains that life in a British factory producing cloth ages one more quickly, and that the workers die of old age at 40. To their right, a mother looks down upon her three children, lamenting “What wretched slaves, this factory life makes me & my children. Continuing right, two factory workers contemplate running away to the coal mines, where they would only work for 14 hours instead of their current 17. On the far right, two rotund men, a priest and a tax collector, approach the workers with books labeled “Tythes” and “Taxes.” In the right corner, a man thanks God that he will soon die and be free of his “factory slavery.” Below the panels is included a portrait of the bust of George Thompson, a Scottish abolitionist. An accompanying quote from Thompson reads, “I am proud to boast that Slavery does not breathe in England,” although the creators of this print would argue otherwise. It was printed by British born John Haven ( born ca 1817), who was active in New York City at 3 Broad Street 1846-1848. He then moved to 86 State Street, Boston where he was active 1848-1850. He is known for designing maps as well as for prints on Manifest Destiny and prints with political commentary.
As the Civil War dragged into 1864, many Republicans worried that the unpopularity of the conflict would cause Lincoln to lose his bid for reelection. Those in the North tired with the war hoped that his opponent and former general, Democratic candidate, George McClellan, would attempt to broker a peace with the Confederacy. These peace Democrats were referred to as Copperheads by Republicans, who believed they resembled venomous serpents. This pro-Republican cartoon rebukes both McClellan and, by extension, the supporters of the Northern Democratic Party.
In the left panel, representing 1832, an enraged Andrew Jackson, the founder of the modern Democratic Party raises a fist into the air as he denounces his Vice President, John C. Calhoun. Calhoun, an ardent supporter of states’ rights believed that state governments had the power to nullify, or veto, any federal laws of which they did not approve. This led to a clash with Jackson, who, although also a proponent of states’ rights, believed in the preservation of the Union. Jackson’s response to Calhoun is contrasted with the behavior of Northern Democrats in 1864. George McClellan and his running mate, George Pendleton, prostrate themselves in front of a shoddily dressed Jefferson Davis, offering him an olive branch and promises of a “friendly separation.” Davis, holding a whip and armed with a pistol and dagger in his belt, stands tall and orders McClellan to call back “those fellows Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan also that old sea dog Farragut. Behind him, a Confederate soldier eating a corncob laughs at the Northern “fools,” who beg for peace even though the Confederacy is “in the last ditch.”
Louis Prang (1824-1910) was born in Breslau, Prussian Silesia, and immigrated to America in 1850. Settling in Boston, he began his lithographic career in 1856, partnering with Julius Mayer. In 1860, he established his own firm, which grew to become one of the largest producers of American colored lithographs during the 19th century. The company’s first lithographic prints were Civil war battle scenes, maps, and portraits of military and political leaders. Louis Prang & Co. remained in operation until 1898, producing greeting cards, facsimiles of American and European paintings, and natural history prints.
Few products are more symbolic of household life in post-World War II America than Tupperware. Made of plastic, intended for service in the suburban kitchen, and with clean and modern design, Tupperware represented "tomorrow's designs with tomorrow's substances." The Museum's collections include over 100 pieces of Tupperware, dating from 1946 through 1999.
Beginning in the 1930s, chemist Earl S. Tupper (1907–1983) experimented with polyethylene slag, a smelly, black waste product of oil refining processes, to develop uses for it. He devised translucent and opaque colored containers that he first marketed in 1942 as "Welcome Ware," then added lids with a patented seal later in the decade.
Modeled after the lid of a paint can, the lid to a Tupperware container was to be closed with a "burp," to create a partial vacuum and make the seal tight. The product was designed to appeal to the growing number of housewives who worked in suburban kitchens with modern appliances, including large refrigerators that allowed once-a-week trips for grocery shopping at the supermarket. These women formed a market for new and effective methods of food storage. Tupperware's water-tight, airtight seal promised preservation of freshness and limited spills or spoilage.
Yet the capabilities of the new product were not obvious to consumers at first, and Tupper's containers did not sell well in retail stores. A Michigan woman named Brownie Wise thought of marketing Tupperware through the home-sales method. Wise developed the system of Tupperware parties, at which a demonstrator could show the uses and advantages of Tupperware. As Tupperware became a staple of many American kitchens, some women found job opportunities in Tupperware sales.
A black and white print of a black stallion running on a hastily erected race track, pulling a sulky. The rider is in a vest, tight pants, a white shirt, and a Homberg hat. The horse’s neck is disproportionately wide. The center of ring contains two center pole tents with banners which read M…RSHAL and PR…DENT. A judge’s stand is in a circular grandstand with cone-shaped roof and American flag. Spectators line the periphery. The flag in the center of grounds is labeled: US Cr… Society. The scene is the US Agricultural Fair held in West Philadelphia on October 8, 1856.
Sherman Black Hawk was foaled on May 30, 1845 in Bridport, Vermont. He was sired by Black Hawk and Smith Mare, both Morgans, and owned by B.J. Myrick. He was a direct descendent of the founding Sire of the Morgan breed, “Figure” owned by Justin Morgan. At 15.2 hands, Sherman Black Hawk was reputed to be spirited, compact, and well made, and he could trot a mile in 2:40. This enabled him to win first place at both the Vermont State Fair in 1854 and the US Agricultural Fair in Pennsylvania (pictured here) in 1856. The man in the picture is thought to be Hiram Woodruff, a well-known and successful driver of the time. 50,000 attended the race at the 1856 Agricultural Fair in West Philadelphia, PA. Temporary open stands were constructed to seat up to 8,000 people, but people also flooded the infield to watch the main racing attractions.
Large circular dish having a slightly domed well and plain-edged rim engraved on front with the inscription "The Gift of the Hon:\ble THOMAS HANCOCK ESQ:\R to the CHURCH in Brattle Street Boston 1764." in script and shaded roman letters. Asymmetrical cartouche at top center of rim contains an armorial device for Hancock, consisting of a griffin rampant crest, its wings displayed and fire issuing from its mouth, above a coat of arms Gules (vertical lines), dexter hand couped argent, and on chief argent, three fighting cocks gules; bottom center has a four-winged cherub flanked by flowing fronds. Reverse of well struck once under centerpoint "J.COBURN" in roman letters in a rectangle; partially legible incised marks "N\o (??) w\t 25-\oz".
Community leaders in early America often gave valuable gifts to their churches. Thomas Hancock funded the purchase of this communion dish to Boston’s Brattle Street Church. Such gifts helped establish a wealthy donor as an important member of the congregation and helped cement their legacy.