In the 19th century, it was the habit of the wealthy and middle class to abandon the sweltering summer heat of large cities, such as New York and London, and take a summer vacation out in the country-side, overseas, or at the seashore. This activity was frequently depicted in comic periodicals, and gave the impression — as the title of this June 10th, 1882 Judge magazine centerspread pokes fun at — that “Everybody is Going Out of Town This Summer”. And so it may have seemed to buyers of those periodicals. Being somewhat of a luxury, much of their audience was the wealthy and middle class.

Below, artist Thomas Worth parodies that notion, showing in the foreground the privileged, marching off towards their vacations, leaving behind in the sweltering cities, the majority working poor. (P.S., sorry about the split down the center of the picture — the centerspread had been unbroken, until I attempted to flip my volume flat upon my scanner, at which point the right half tore away…

Near the front of the parade, in white jacket and hat, and with a bag labeled “H.W.B. Profits of Fashionable Preaching” slung over his shoulder, is Henry Ward Beecher. Slightly further back, and walking arm-in-arm, are monopolists & stock market manipulators Jay Gould, Cyrus Field, and William Vanderbilt. Gould’s & Field’s bags both are labeled “Stock Gambling Profits”. Others shown in the parade headed out of town, carry generic labels, such as “Bank President”, “A. Shark Lawyer”, and “Rich Man’s Son”.

Click on the below picture, to open an enlarged version.

Behind the foreground wall, watching the rich’s vacation exodus from their tenements, are the working poor. One building is labeled “Poorman’s Apartment House”, and signs beneath the windows have such labels as “Carpenter”, “Needlework”, “Rag Picker”, and “Mrs. Needy”. Further in the distance, to the left, are the workers’ factories, and steeples flying flags, reading “Wall Street No Gambling During the Hot Weather”, “Court Sharks Retreat”, “Church of the Holy Rest Closed Till Fall”, and, the crowning piece, “Water: Jay Gould Proprietor”.

Below, Judge‘s accompanying prose piece, furthering the parody.

Click here to find prior Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons entries, and related I.T.C.H. posts. This series will continue, so long as the debate on Wall Street financial reforms continues in Congress (except on Mondays and holidays, during which I already had other material planned).

Doug Wheeler

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