The Old Print Shop

"The Rich Growing Richer, The Poor Growing Poorer." : The Tammany Lords and Their Constituents.

  • ARTIST: Thomas Nast

  • PUBLISHER: Published by Harper's Weekly. September 2, 1871.

  • MEDIUM: Wood engraving,

    DATE: 1871.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 13 1/2 x 9 3/16" (34 x 23.3 cm).

  • DESCRIPTION: This cartoon reflects not only on the corruption of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall, which stole millions from tax payers, but the ignorance of the people who vote for them. <br><br> At the top is the "Bed of Roses" where the rich lay in luxury. "We drink to our constituents. May they love long, so that we may prosper." This part of the cartoon depicts William M. Tweed (Boss Tweed) of Tammany Hall relaxing with his cronies in a lavish garden, drinking wine and filling their fat bellies. <br><br> Below is the "Bed of Thorns" where the poor are suffering. A man with the semblance of Uncle Sam hands a desperate woman the rent bill. He says to her, "Yes. The rent is 'perhaps exorbitant' but your husband always votes for the very men who make every-thing 'perhaps exorbitant.'" Her husband grieves for what is to come. His son tries to offer comfort and his daughter lays in a mess of hay, no bed in sight, nor food nor good clothing (tattered shirts hang from the ceiling). Even the walls of the establishment are crumbling around them.

  • ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • CONDITION: Good condition, save for minor soiling.

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