Racist trade card promoting stove manufacturer Cribben, Sexton & Co. and depicting a genre scene with African American caricatures originally created for Harper’s Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." Figures are portrayed with exaggerated features. Shows two African American men (i.e., the suitors of the twins) at the start of a duel in a field between two trees. The suitor with a squat figure is in the right, attired in black shoes, red and white striped pants, a brown vest, and a yellow jacket, and stands with his face looking up. The tall suitor in the left is attired in black shoes, red and white striped pants, a white collared shirt, and a blue jacket, and has one hand behind his head. They point guns at each other. An African American man (witness), attired in a brown pants, a green jacket, and a black hat, stands behind the tree in the foreground and another, in a red suit, sits behind the tree in the background. An older African American man sits behind the standing observer with his medical bag labeled “Dr. Black.” He reaches into it with one hand while holding a medicine bottle in the other. In front of the bag are medical pliers, a knife, and a saw. In the distant left background is a house. Henry Cribben and James A. Sexton founded the stove manufactory Cribben, Sexton & Co. in Chicago in 1873. The Company closed in 1965., Title from item., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Distributor's imprint printed on verso: Sayles & Conover, Dealers in stoves and hardware, A full line of universal, Perfect and elegant stoves and ranges always on hand. Valparaiso, Indiana., Gift of David Doret., See related prints from series [P.2017.95.36 & P.2017.95.38].
Date
[ca. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Cribben, Sexton & Co. [P.2017.95.37]
