19th century US cartoon contrasting a rich Jewish shop owner and a peddler
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) | Width: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm)
Creator(s)
- Frederick Burr Opper (Artist)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Archival History
The print was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Cartoon of a stereotypical heayset, flashily dressed Jewish shopowner suspiciously watching an unkempt Jewish peddler dressed in rags walking down the street. The captions, set as poems, make fun of both, and point out how the rich Wholesaler does not recognize his old friend the Peddler. It was drawn by F.W. Opper for Puck, America's first humor magazine, published in New York in both English and German language versions. This print is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Illustration with poem captions depicting an Old Clothes Dealer, the rich Wholesaler does not recognize his old friend the Peddler
front, bottom right corner, pencil : puck / 1882
Subjects
- Jews--United States--19th century--Periodicals--Pictorial works.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Jewish peddlers--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons--19th century.
- Antisemitism in art--United States--19th century.
- Jews in art--United States--19th century.
- Jewish businesspeople--Caricatures and cartoons.
Genre
- Object
- Art