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The people's line--Take care of the locomotive – Vintage Wall Art

The people's line--Take care of the locomotive, 1840 — historic print
The people's line--Take care of the locomotive, 1840. Historic print from the Locomotives 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 print captures The people's line--Take care of the locomotive in remarkable detail. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.

The people's line--Take care of the locomotive

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The title, "The people's line," sets this cartoon apart from the many 1840 campaign prints built around log cabins and hard cider. It recasts the presidential contest in the language of the railroad, which was then a fresh symbol of American progress. The print names Henry Clay and William Henry Harrison, two Whig leaders whose rivalry for the nomination was settled at the party's 1839 convention in Harrisburg, where Harrison prevailed. Its New York publishers, Huestis & Co. and Robert Elton, show how partisan imagery of the period borrowed new technology to make its arguments.

Created / published1840
Medium1 print : woodcut and letterpress with watercolor, on wove paper ; 23.9 x 29.8 cm. (image)
GenrePolitical cartoons 1840.Woodcuts 1840.
NotesSold by Huestis & Co. and Robert Elton? at 104 Nassau, and 18 Division Streets, New-York. Title appears as it is written on the item. Weitenkampf, p. 68. Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress) Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-28.
SubjectsClay, Henry,--1777-1852.--Political activity. Harrison, William Henry,--1773-1841. Log cabins--1840.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,209 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-112798

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