Snapshots of the Past

54 hour week, low wages / Ellis. – Historic Print

54 hour week, low wages / Ellis., [between 1930 and 1939] — historic drawing
54 hour week, low wages / Ellis., [between 1930 and 1939]. Historic drawing from the Work & Industry collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This rare historic drawing captures 54 hour week, low wages / Ellis. in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

54 hour week, low wages / Ellis.

Order a print

Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal

Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.

Sign up for our newsletter

Sent securely. No purchase needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ask about licensing or this print

Skeletons, rather than living workers alone, set this drawing apart from the other labor pictures on the board. Robert Ellis made it for the Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Communist Party USA, during the 1930s, when long shifts and low pay were common across mining and other industries. Left-leaning artists of the period often used skeletons to argue that exploitation could mean literal death, a message aimed at readers struggling through the Depression. The crayon, ink, pencil and opaque white give the sheet a stark, high-contrast finish that suited bold newspaper reproduction.

Created / published[between 1930 and 1939]
Medium1 drawing : crayon, ink, pencil and opaque white ; 35.1 x 42.6 cm. (image)
GenreEditorial cartoons 1930-1940.Drawings 1930-1940.
NotesInscribed on verso: 3 col DW must AM Tuesday. Copyright by Robert Ellis. Ben and Beatrice Goldstein Foundation Collection (Library of Congress). Published in: Daily Worker. Exhibited in: Life of the people: Realist prints and drawings from the Ben and Beatrice Goldstein Collection, 1912-1948, Library of Congress, 1999. Unprocessed in PR 13 CN 2002:170.1443
SubjectsMiners--1930-1940. Mining--1930-1940. Skeletons--1930-1940. Employee rights--1930-1940.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,671 × 3,791 px · prints to 16 × 13 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-220156

More from the Work & Industry collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

Related pictures

2 inspiring cablegrams / Krieg Hoff ; Thomsen-Ellis Co., Baltimore, New York.2 inspiring cablegrams / Krieg Hoff ; Thomsen-Ellis Co., Baltimore, New York.National letter writing week Oct. 1-7 That letter will be appreciated.National letter writing week Oct. 1-7 That letter will be appreciated.[Miner Joe] / Elizabeth Olds, 1940.[Miner Joe] / Elizabeth Olds, 1940.Salt minesSalt minesTo the miner / J.L.R. ; A.B. Graha Co. Litho., Washington, D.C.To the miner / J.L.R. ; A.B. Graha Co. Litho., Washington, D.C.Miners prospecting / Remington.Miners prospecting / Remington.