Yankee Notions
Yankee notions starts in 1852 TW Strong, monthly
Vol 1 1852 colored frontispiece has word Union on it. 12 ½ cents each, $1.50 per year in advance, 98 Nassau st
Easier to see artists’ names in second volume. Editors comments are in dialect of down easterner
February p. 41 Jonathan’s visit to the Art-Union, in dialect, fruits of every kind seem to be a drug in the market, flowers, took my eye was that piece where they’re a gittin in the hay, twas so real, hollered that thunder shower will be up before you think of it, Uncle Josh, got escorted out by two gmen, asked one how many chances against him getting that picture, 15 to one he says, so Jon buys 20 tickets and sent for 19 country cousins to help him patronize the AU and be here for the drawing, but no drawing, so will entail the pic in his will, will be an Old Master heirloom
p. 45 cartoon shows men in a bar reading Yankee notions, smoking, well dressed
p. 50 the American drama is the British drama, monarchical
p. 56 satire of Duganne’s Iron Man, new weekly, first and probably last appearance, bound to let off steam (shows a knight in armor with steam coming out of his head)
pro Clay anecdote. Satire of Scott.
March p. 95 The Am A_U letter to the editor from Green-Horn, problem of thinkin AU filled its promises, invested his cousins money in AU, no prizes, will testify agst them
April p128 Jonathan’s Art Union Distrib, suckscribers sucked in, distrib is today April 1, to Greeley a big squash and a little pumpkin, to Maine liquor law greens and a cabbage, Edw Forrest a Sun Flower, biggest and yellowest, Willis the flower called Love in Idleness, to Bennett, an Itching Palm, to Hughes, a Monk’s hood, to Notions subscribers a large panoramic Engraving
Mean to blacks, mocks codfish aristo
June p. 184 Scene in a Bowery Ice cream saloon
Holcomb an artist, also Magee
July p209 mocks Irish housemaid, can’t judge sculpture. P. 213 critical of expansionism/filibustering p. 216 artist Magee covers Baltimore convention, sketch of man who wouldn’t be quiet (Raymond?) letter to editor calls old fogy Cass and Buchanan don’t have chance, says Demos (writer’s party) will Pierce the Whigs, I’m Young America, want all creation to have a pic of Genl Wash in all the churches of Europe, esp Vatican, stars and stripes on stained glass windows, take Cuba, Mexico, Russia, Prussia and England. Calls Buchanan a nativist, says to a point I am too, but want to take in all the foreign orphans and the rest of mankind, Douglas a world huggin Demo but not going to get the vote.
P222 satire of an artist, pretensions, doesn’t pay his debts. JL Ten?? The artist?
p.224 cartoon mocks all the candidates for courting southern rights (magee), Cass, Douglass, Scott, Webster (bearing the Compromise)
August
P228 mocks low circulation of Day Book and Mirror, also later mocks Bennett as dishonest.
S. Lee an artist, shows Demo convention as a Hogarth drinking club
Satire of women’s rights convention, Art Unionp. 256 Buchanan an old fogy too p. 259 engr of Yankee Notions’ wood engraver
H Eckart one of their artists
October
Fond of dogs. Mocks the Lantern, Demo Review (which likes Douglas?) as Young Am expansionist
November cover has scene resembling Spencer’s molasses
Bellew engraving for them, T Frere? Designing. Monkey like Irish.
December, mocks transcendentalists,p. 359 Above Bleecker is a dog with a monocle
Vol 2 1853
Artist is Hoppin, (and Victor), Strong too, and ALR, J K?Howard. HOppin does most. Dallas too? T. Gunn, JM Lennan
April p126 Devil’s friends are in Tammany, Pewter Mug, Five Points, holds a mock auction, railroad, Dr. Lazarus (free love)—engraving of auction inclu ptgs on the wall
May mocks spiritualists. P148 Every Boddie the politician is a democrat, strong democrat, tho remembers when he had Custom House job under Whig admin, then ran thru Hunker Barnburner Hard Shell Soft Shell, a Cass man til Demo Rev let fly at Old Fogydom, so joined Young Americanism and Douglas, then in Baltimore converted to Pierce, the Champion for Liberty. Bad orator, goes to DC for a job (illus by Lennan I think), failed and became a policeman
June p 180 well dressed gman with market basket bargaining with young lady for a goose, engr
182 Have we a comic paper among us, Times story we don’t agree with, editor knows nothing of it from his connection with Harper’s or Times and chief bottle washer for Whig party, same true for Greeley and Webb and other city or literary editors; NY newspapers given to private feuds in public journalism, so mercenary won’t write a line unless paid. Papers like the Times kill comic papers, but also mass of readers don’t support it, could speak to our American Illustrated News. Mean to Chinese.
July p. 218 an exhibition scene of women mocking portraits
August p228 New York bill posters spot De Witt Clinton statue in the Park as place to put posters, others on theme reinforce will plaster anything p.235 another yonger gman doing the marketing engraving p241 cartoons of young toughs preying on wealthy sentimental poodle owner p 246 engr of dogkillers
P249 mocks Charles Astor Bristed, writes to Home J from France
September cover is Jonathan and Jemima at Crystal Palace, looking at Kiss statue of Amazons, girl indecent straddling horse, Jon tells wife not to crit as it’s not hers. P258 we used to think we lived in a repub country, but may be Austrian, Cryst Pal tries to prevent artists fr sketching art in Exhib for any other than Putnam’s paper. We respect Putnam, think his paper good, for him, hope it will improve, but there shouldn’t be a monopoly, works of art and pub exhibs belong to public, not private. Doesn’t like Pres of Cryst Pal, treats press badly p279 scene in cryst pal eng, of Miss Prim offended by statues minus Bloomer dress and regimentals p286 artist before Statue of Webster, lost in admiration of how many pressed bricks it would make; gets arrested by police, escapes, caricatures were the issue
October
299 Engr of Picture Gallery, man instructing his son on how to look thru hands to get best effect of pic, Bobby says hands too dirty for him to look thru them 306 statue of Rip Van Winkle caricature by Baron Marochetti (tricorner hat, horse with arched neck) 313 old fogies of Cryst Pal covered statues with tin fig leaves, mention the chanting cherubs, fig leaves wont save such a viewer
November 1853 p334 engr of the next adaptation of a fig leaf in Cryst Pal, so big it covers her entirely, crowd of men around statue
December p356 engr of artist drawing sort of effeminate man, by Quiz. Cite Don Bobtail Fandango (Curtis?) 362 a Yankee picks up miniature Powers’ eve, engr, Police hustle him out, moral is don’t touch the gimcracks in the Cryst Pal p. 367 An Artist as was an Artist, party at above Bleecker st mansion of a friend who had made a hit in the tea and coffee business, everyone admired tapestry carpets and pics, one of finest was large crayon ofRuth at the Well, says wife drew it—drew it in a lottery
1854 vol 3
Jan mocks Willis, mildly, symp to Mitchel, surprised Pierce is still ok with Herald despite Bennett's constant abuse. Like Boucicault, esp his kindly feeling in Old Heads and Young hearts, critical of the Times for attacking him. cartoon of a daguerreotypist and dead child p31 Vermonter and teh Greek Slave, our reporter looking at Cryst Pal, didn't understand manacles, had to stop him from touching, pointed to placard. Have a lot of stuff from Cinti.
Feb: very happy Fry won libel case agst Bennett, dirty career, slanderous
Hot Corn is trash, bad style, drew attn to poor and guilty, gaslight Foster was nasty, abolitionism of UTC, worse a books is, greater its sale, rewards vulgar talent, Fanny Fern common place vulgar smart and 'knowing' p55 satire of an artist p. 56 has the sound on the goose conversation with Van Buren. mocks Putnam's hacks.
March anecdote of Boughton the artist in London, also Chas Jarvis anecdote p82 artist negotiating with a patron unhappy at being painted too dark complexioned. transl fr Courrier des Etats satire of Stowe, visit to Haiti. hostile to pretensions of indep working man nd plebeian
April cartoon of Nebraska bill as a black man. Greenough cited on Brackett? that no one can forgive that it wasn't made in Italy. HF Leland writing. the Statesman newspaper dead. women at the market are Irish. Hoppin still doing drwgs. p140 cartoon of man reading Herald Feb 22 1848 War Mexico headline, JML the artist, a box that says stolen and something else next to him, reader has never purchased in his life a paper, startled by cry of anxious Newsboy Great Battle, war in the Interior, read Herald that morning, didn't see anything but war betw Turks and Russians, beats boy down in price, buys the extra, unhappy when finds out paper is 4 or 5 years old. cartoon of boys drowning a cat.
June p. 165 A Studio Sketch, Vandyke Brown finished his Great Hist Pic, asks friends before sending to Exhib, spar, get sent thru own pic. I don't understand why it's funny. p. 180 joke about reading about artists in Tribune, and Powers, mostly puns
July port of comic editor, seems to sit on a barrel. Sambo.
August p229 colored lady and an artist sketching her cottage, she invites him in (doesn't understand what he's doing) p230 cartoon of Genin sweeping Broadway. lots of know nothing jokes.
Sept p281 Jonathan abroad visits RA cartoon looking at pic thru tube of hands, he's being laughed at by man behind him
Oct Wattles doing their drwgs. More mockery of Willis as trivial.
December joke about color (black man from a Mount picture) in daguerreotypes. Bulls and bears of Wall st, to accompany story on speculating in Erie, losing money
1855 vol 5
Jan start doing that editors chip basket thing. Have new year in the north and south, poems and engraving, sleighing and fiddling, and black people visiting and dancing to banjo too. McLenan did the illus., northern dance scene has man and woman, southern just a man
Feb p 35 Model Artist advertises for a Venus, gets an Irish woman
March cover is Bennett and the Herald as satan/the satanic press, looming over Barnum, Wikoff and Greeley. editor's chip basket notes opening of NAD, celebrated Daub will exhib orig pic Portrait of a Gman, Mr Rosepink will contrib great natl pic titled Battle of Bladensburgh, first time an Am artist has attempted the subject. Spirited pic of Destruction of Greytown ptd by Smawithings of the diddledoff school will also grace the walls, size will be an inch, smallness of subj not warranting a large waste of canvas. Artist contempl a pano of political life of JVBuren, but found its twistings so bewildering he abandoned it. Hostile regularly to Know Nothings. Dislike idea of noble Indian. cartoon of an artist bringing an unfunny drawing to editor.
April Editor's chip basket notes Bennett of notorious Herald is going to publish Poems and Sketches of Society written when he was young. cartoon of ugly woman at daguerreotypist
May: Fernando Wood is on the cover, bowling down fraud etc. defends Forrest a little. pro Temperance (and Maine law?). Tribune is being hostile to Forrest at Broadway, only likes English actors. Mocks Musical World. June? cartoon of a portrait of a woman being carried by a man to NAD.
June p187 Scene in NAD: elderly gman who admires high art mistakes a young man, asks him to use influ with committee to have gas lit or procure a lantern and stepladder for pic of my friend somewhere abt the feeling (LemL is artist?)
July Recommend Hannibal of Picayune. Wikoff is managing Acad of Music, reconciled with Wikoff, who pub letter explaining in Eve Post, toad eating, Herald now supporting Acad of Music. Oakes Smith denounces baby show, doesn't succeed. Don't like Geo Law. Weird cartoon of mom convincing child that wax statue of Genl Jackson is his father (at Barnum's) making him cry. Greeley cartoon on his hobby horses abolit and temperance, Fourierism too
August critical of Aldermen. Triangle (Bellew) writes to him. Comic of Greeley and abolitionism p. 251 comic of an actor requesting portrait fr artist with divinity of the Noble Roman
Sept. Oct Like Harper's. November Whittier poem. Story of Parhasius Potts and his model, an artist, in dialect, hires model for St John in the Wilderness, gets too fat to serve, has to turn him into Bacchus. mocks Horace Greeley, but clearly thinks everyone is reading him.
December: cover is John Van Buren as political coquette. mocks free love club.
1856 vol 5
Editor's chip basket, Know nothing triumph blamed on John Van Buren trying to unite the Demos?
praises Ann Stephens Old Homestead, graphic and truthful (pub Oliver Bunce)
cartoon of all the political factions--whigs dying
HHH has cartoon of two men sitting on a fence
Feb: praise Brougham's local satire of Pocahontas at Wallack's. critical of Pierce, the aldermen (tea room thing)
Tribune newsboy reproaches Herald for smoking and intemperance p. 60 list contributors for the current year, Louis Gaylord Clark, Ik Marvel, RW Emerson, Longfellow, Geo Curtis, Beecher, Fanny Fern etc, has the Editor's Table fro Clark. Has had a couple of cartoons about the Times. Critics are ignorant. Honor is a fraud.
March notices that Mr Strong has started publishing Young America, satirical weekly, 6 cents. story abt "new bonnet". have a random portrait of Raphael (fr School of Athens)
cartoon of US annexing the planets, Venus first
April: Hawthorne joke, he'll be out if Fillmore elected. attacks Rust of Arkansas.
May: satire of free love
June cartoon of Willie getting lick of molasses, black woman licking him, sugar joke too. lots of Irish jokes, irish servants, etc, mocks women's rights
July spare that pup p208 ideal sculpture, rustic patron who likes uncle sam, mistakes statue of woman for tombstone. satire of Hiawatha. Fowler and wells advertise.
September Doesticks. characters often identified as young husb, young wife
October HW Beecher story is about Noble the dog, likes EDEN Southworth's moral tales. Potiphar cartoons. p313 cartoon with Columbia and liberty cap, Jonathan, bulldog of disunion is Greeley and an african slave.
November: want Fremont. more on boys stealing dogs. excerpts Leland (Mace Sloper)
Dec p373? cartoon of gman marketing. lots of anti-dueling. Carleton p381 kids dressed up rather like Spencer, dad in center reading the paper, dog, bedlam broke loose, he had dreamed of harmony
1858 vol. 7
Jan satires of Central Park’s state of incompletion
Feb voting scene as brawl, it’s F Wood’s fault and liquor. Lots of Young America jokes
March a view of “Nigger-agua” with big sun, cactus, palms, rltd to filibuster
April our friend Doesticks and excerpts him Likes Laura Keene
May has a poem Cincinnati Swine, a Parody—by Park Benjamin, seems fairly hostile to Cinti. Mocks in cartoon Jonathan’s desire to expand territory to other planets, Venus first.
June? Has very favorable anecdote of Lincoln. Attacks prejudice agst blacks. Has satires of “democracy” (Wood, Democrats). Satire of Hiawatha.Pro Brace.
July p211 cartoon “sketch fr Nature made at Wms & Stevens” shows a man in big hat smoking meerschaum sliding down a bank, I don’t get it. Satire of the Quackenbos, a merchant on change, failed, but had secreted all his money in France
August supports the newsboys agst the Sunday laws. Fe Fi Fo Fum is anti-British
September: editor is reading Aldrich’s poems. Cartoon of Muggins among the Marbles, sees winged statue 9cupid) doesn’t recognize the breed of bird
November philanthropists ought to help poor here not in Africa. Lots of satires of Irish servants, inclu laundres and stylishly dressed cook (in Dec).
December editor mocks shriekers re Kansas. Stories use dialect