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

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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.
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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."
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