Any Thing but a ‘Pacific Mail’, from "Harper's Weekly"

Skip to main content
Any Thing but a ‘Pacific Mail’, from "Harper's Weekly"
Any Thing but a ‘Pacific Mail’, from "Harper's Weekly"
Artist/Maker (American, born Germany, 1840 - 1902)
Datepublished March 6, 1875
MediumWood engraving on newsprint
DimensionsComposition: 10 1/8 in. × 9 in. (25.7 × 22.9 cm) Sheet: 15 13/16 × 10 7/8 in. (40.2 × 27.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor Emeritus Jay Williams, Class of 1954
Object number2019.13.274
Not on view
DescriptionWoman in dress with a key hanging off her belt patting the head of a child crying. The crying boy wears a belt reading "Pacific / Mail." and in front of him a piece of wood that reads "Subsidies." is on fire. Behind him a child sits and other children stand in front of a booth with sign reading "U.S. / Treasury." A clothes line with two articles of clothing hangs at the top of the booth, and below it other planks of wood labeled "Subsidies" burn. To the left of the woman a boy stands with his arm in a sling, wearing a belt that reads "Credit Mobilier". Behind him a man stands in a doorway with a sign above it reading "U.S. Alms House." Captioned "MATRON COLUMBIA. 'Children, you must stop putting those dangerous irons in the fire; somebody is sure to have his fingers burned.'" typeset beneath title in black ink.
Collections

Additional Details

Provenance 2019: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Jay G. Williams.
Signature Signed "Th Nast" in block at lower right composition.
Inscribed Title typeset beneath image in black ink. Publisher banner headline typeset above image in black ink: "Harper's Weekly / Journal of Civilization / Vol. XIX.-No. 949: New York, Saturday, March 6, 1875."
Waiting, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 25, 1876
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.349
A Tammany Rat, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 7, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.259
'The Indifference' of Uncle Sam, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published December 9, 1876
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.353
Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published April 10, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.279
Whose Funeral Is It?, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published March 20, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.276
The ‘Funny’ Little Boy in Trouble, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published November 28, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.262
The Mysterious Influence of the New York ‘Herald!’, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published February 13, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.270
A Burden He Has to Shoulder, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published October 24, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.256
A Republican Form of Government, and No Domestic Violence, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published March 6, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.273
The Horse and His Rider, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published June 27, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.245
Shall Teachers; Salaries be Lowered?, from Harper's Weekly
Thomas Nast
Date: published December 19, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.265
February 22, 1876, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published March 4, 1876
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.314