[Caught in the act] – Vintage Wall Art
![[Caught in the act], c1900. — historic photograph](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/b7/b719d12fb87a-L.webp)
(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
Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of [Caught in the act]. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable 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.
[Caught in the act]
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A Santa Claus caught smoking is an unusual subject for a turn-of-the-century photograph, and the title, "Caught in the act," signals that the scene was staged for laughs. By 1900, Santa had become a familiar figure in American holiday imagery, shaped largely by Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem and Thomas Nast's illustrations, so a joke that depends on his well-known good behavior would have landed with viewers. The print's notation shows it was deposited with the U.S. Copyright Office, which is how the Library of Congress came to hold it. Comic photographs like this one were popular in the period, and they offer a glimpse of what people found funny.
| Created / published | c1900. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Genre | Humorous pictures 1900.Photographic prints 1900. |
| Notes | D4849 U.S. Copyright Office. No. 3. |
| Subjects | Santa Claus--1900. Smoking--1900. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,006 × 1,536 px · prints to 3 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-169010 |
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