The “Press View” at the Candidate Show

by Louis Dalrymple (1895)



Lazy Curator™ sez: Various politicians stand on display to numerous journalists clad in rolls of paper. The journalists include:

Joseph Pulitzer (World)

Charles Anderson Dana (Sun)

Whitelaw Reid (Tribune)

Henry Watterson (Courier-Journal)

[unknown] Chicago Inter-Ocean

Joseph R. Hawley (Hartford Courant)

Murat Halstead

Evan P. Howell

On display:

John James Ingalls & William Alfred Peffer (“We Two Little Candidates From Kansas Also Have Some Good Points”)

Robert E. Pattison (“A Good All Round Candidate, If He Can Get It”)

David Bennet Hill (“Well! Nominate Him and See.”)

James E. Campbell (“A Good Hustler and Hard Worker”)

William Collins Whitney (“Would Make a Handsome and Well-Dressed Candidate”)

William E. Russell (“As the Boy President Would Be a Success”)

Adlai E. Stevenson (“What’s the Matter With Adlai?”)

Levi Parsons Morton (“A Fine Old Gentleman and a Favorite of N.Y.”)

Bobby Todd Lincoln (“There Is a Good Deal in the Name.”)

William B. Allison (“Would Do, and Could Make a Good Impression in the West.”)

Thomas Brackett Reed (“Wants It, and Would Make a Lively Canvass.”)

William McKinley (“A Back-Number, but Could Be Used in an Emergency”)

Benjamin Harrison (“My Friends Say I Am Not a Candidate”)

This scan is another one from Peffer’s scrapbook. Thanks for the collection (and the fabulous beard) Senator!

Happy birthday to Robert Todd Lincoln, whose birthday was on Saturday. Not to speak ill of the dead, but Bobby trying to wear his father’s coat which is far too big for him is kind of symbolic of his entire career, alas.

Change Cars! This Train Has Stopped Running for Good!

by Frederick Opper (1886)



Puck acts as a streetcar brakeman on the Reform Line, calling for the occupants of the Old Spoils System Line—all prominent journalists of the time—to off-board. Lazy Curator™ laments the dearth of LOC entry to consult, but can positively identify Whitelaw Reid (standing, far left), Joseph Pulitzer (seated, left foreground, with head turned), Murat Halstead (seated, center background, next to broken boiler), Cyrus Field (seated, second from right) and Charles A. Dana (asleep, far right).

More “spoils system”...um...“fun”

In case you have doubts that this posting is seasonally appropriate, do remember a) it was originally published in December and b) Dana rather looks like Santa Claus here.