Civil War Christmas Cartoons: Vanity Fair
I’ve been rather neglectful in my postings, of the fact that we’re in the midst of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War. Today, a meager bit of catching up, with some Christmas-themed cartoons, from the Civil War-era comic periodical , Vanity Fair. Above, a series of individual Christmas-themed cartoons, by Frank Bellew, Sr., [...]
Wall Street Panics & Collapses: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons #107
Using mostly cartoons shown over the course of our Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons run, plus a scattering of a few new ones, we have a brief review in pictures, of Wall Street Crashes & Panics, from mid-19th Century, up through Great Depression I. The upcoming election pits one candidate who is a millionaire [...]
Exhibition: Victorian Narrative Stereography: 1855 - 1910
Tonight, February 3rd, from 4 to 7 pm, will be a reception for the gallery exhibit, Victorian Narrative Stereography: 1855-1910, at the Little Gallery of Sage College of Albany. It is located on campus, in Rathbone Hall, 140 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY. Afterwards, the exhibit will be open thru February 26, Sunday - Friday, [...]
Tigwissel Tuesdays #6: Tigwissel Antecedents: Professor Prag
Professor Tigwissel was, of course, preceded by the comic misadventures of numerous other cartoon strip professors. Nearly all of these bumbling, bespectacled scientists were one-appearance wonders, or at best had a couple serialized appearances — nothing approaching the sporadic seven-year run of Hopkin’s Tigwissel. They certainly, however, influenced Hopkins, who would have seen at least [...]
Snow Storm Special 2
Almost a year ago, we posted Snow Storm Special 1, by Frank Bellew, Sr. Today from his son, Frank Bellew, Jr. — better known as “Chips” — we bring you another winter weather inspired cartoon… This comes from original Life magazine. I would tell you the specific date — except that info is located on [...]
1870s: The U.S. Government’s Wars against Native Americans
With the Civil War ended, the Union Army was free to concentrate on the conquest of Western native tribes (plus the re-conquest of tribes that had become “western”, by virtue of being forcibly re-settled west, after their lands in the east had been stolen.) Depictions were rampant of murderous savages commiting acts of senseless violence, [...]
Keeping Cool: C.M. Coolidge, and Hopkins at the Daily Graphic Office
The variety of methods for keeping cool before the age of air-conditioning, could be an endless source of inspiration for early cartoonists (who, due to the nature of deadlines, may have been producing these in the winter!) Below, from 1883, a series of trade cards by one of our eternal favorites, Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, who is [...]
Unemployment
First up, the Wall Street Financial Reforms legislation was finally passed yesterday! That accomplished, the Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons series has reached its end. A concluding episode to wrap the series up will appear next week, using several of my scanned, but not yet posted, cartoons. The Monopolists series, the Charles Jay Taylor [...]
Tell the Banks You Must Have Money: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 53
From the December 12, 2025 issue of the New York comic weekly, Picayune, we have Female Financiering (okay, this was 1857). The situation here, during the Panic of 1857, is that the banks have closed, taking the depositors’ money with them. Click on picture, to open an enlarged version. Click here to find prior Wall Street Frauds Make [...]
The Childrens’ Point-of-View, 1857: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 44
Children will imitate what they see in their parents and the other adults around them, which is the point of these cartoons from the Panic of 1857, all three by artist Frank Bellew (Sr.). Below, Another Terrible Failure, from the (New York) Picayune, November 7, 1857. Next, Prevailing Complaint, from the December 1857 issue of [...]
