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Two To Go!, by Thomas Worth, Currier & Ives, 1882

 Item — Box: 1, Folder: 80

Scope and Content:

From the Collection: The Helen Farr Sloan’s political cartoon collection (1802-1950) contains a variety of prints of political cartoons, illustrations, and caricatures from several different magazines. The collection contains pages from magazines, pages from books, and other prints that were not a part of a publication. The magazines featured include Puck, Judge, Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914), Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936), Harper’s Weekly, Gil Blas, Le Charivari, Truth, The New Yorker, The Illustrated London News, The New York Herald, and The Sun. There are other series included like Treagar’s Black Jokes and Le Gens de Paris. There are works from publishers like S.W. Fores, Currier & Ives, and J.Sidebotham. Also included are works by Rowlandson, which are individually published.

The first series contains cartoons from Puck magazine. Its materials are pages and covers from the magazine including the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Frederick Burr Opper, Frederich Graetz, Bernhard Gillam, J.S. Pughe, James Albert Wales, and Samuel Ehrhart.

The second series contains cartoons from Judge magazine. The materials are pages and covers from the magazine and include both the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Thomas Worth, Bernhard Gillam, Victor Gillam, and Grant E. Hamilton.

The third series contains cartoons, caricatures, and portraits from Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914) and Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936) magazines. The materials for the British magazine include the one-sided caricatures and cartoons featured in the publication. The material for the American magazine contains a portrait on the front and a table of contents on the back of the page. The artists that are included are Carlo Pellegrini (Ape/Singe), James Tissot (Coïdé), Thomas Nast, Leslie Ward (Spy), and William Henry Cotton.

The fourth series contains cartoons from Harper’s Weekly magazine. The materials include the front and back side of pages from the magazine. The artists that are included are William L. Sheppard, Charles G. Bush, Thomas Nast, and A.B. Frost.

The fifth series contains cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations from various magazines and publications. The artists and their publications include Théophile Steinlin, from Gil Blas, Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (Paul Gavarni), from Le Gens de Paris, Thomas Rowlandson, William Summers, from Tregear’s Black Jokes, Charles Williams, William Elmes, George Cruikshank, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, Jules Joseph Georges Renard (Draner), Charles Robinson, from The Illustrated London News, Thomas Worth, Richard F. Outcault, from the New York Herald, Helen E. Hokinson, from The New Yorker, Charles Amédée de Noé (Cham), from Le Charivari, Sydney B. Griffin, from Truth, Oscar Cesare, from The Sun, and William Bruns.

There are a wide variety of themes and events covered in the cartoons and illustrations throughout the collection. There are numerous presidential elections covered including the elections of 1806, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, and 1900. The 43rd and 54th Congresses are both represented within cartoons in the series. Other events that are shown in cartoons in the collection are the Chicago World’s Fair/World’s Columbian Exposition, the Spanish-American War, Reconstruction, and the Kansas Exodus. There are also many representations of the Democratic, Republican, Greenback, and Citizens parties as well as Tammany Hall. Other themes included are immigration, Jewish communities, social ambition, weather problems, voting rights, the gold standard vs. free silver debate, diseases, family roles, plantations, white supremacy groups, Communism, financial issues, militaries, pic-nic societies, King George IV’s court, political corruption, and social events and issues. A large number of the cartoons included in the collections are products of their times and therefore many include racist language and depictions. The transcriptions and metadata associated with each cartoon is described as is for the purpose of providing the easiest access to the collection and does in no way reflect the views of Wilkes University or its archive department.

Dates

  • Created: 1882

Creator

Access:

Anyone may access these political cartoons.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Type of Material:

Political cartoon

Condition Note:

Poor. The material has browned from age, and has multiple tears.

Measurements:

14 x 11 in

Title:

Two To Go!

Description:

The cartoon by Thomas Worth for a Currier and Ives publication shows a scene of men playing pool. The cartoon is mocking Black men playing pool in a racist way. They are all meant to resemble Black men, but are drawn in a racist way. On the left there is a man in a white and blue striped suit and yellow hat. He is standing with his hands in his pocket and is smoking. Beside him are two men in blue jackets, white shirts, and grey pants. One is wearing a black top hat, and the other a smaller gray hat. They are both standing with their hands in their pockets and smoking. To the left of the pool table, there are two men bending down to look at the balls on the table. One is wearing glasses, a black jacket, a white collared shirt, a red tie, blue pants, and black shoes. The other is wearing a black jacket, a white shirt, blue pants, and gray shoes. There is a man in front of the pool table. He is leaning over it with his cue, aiming to hit a ball. He is wearing a yellow striped shirt, a red vest, blue and white striped pants with two holes in the back, one of them patches, and black shoes. There is a bottle under the table, and on the top of the table are two white balls, and two red balls. To the right of the table is a man holding a cue and looking down at the table. He is wearing a white and black striped shirt, a blue vest, yellow and blue plaid pants, black shoes, a gold ring, and a gold pocket watch chain coming from his pocket. Beside him is a man in a blue jacket, blue pants, white shirt, and a black top hat. He is standing with his hands in his pockets and smoking. The artist, Thomas Worth, is a cartoonist from New York who got his start contributing cartoons to well-known lithographers, Currier and Ives’ collections. Worth is mostly known for his cartoons in Harper’s Weekly but also did work for Judge magazine.

Transcription:

The title is printed below the image and says, “Two To Go!”

Repository Details

Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository

Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)