Postcard of a Jewish pawnbroker & customer with a mantel clock
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm) | Width: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm)
Creator(s)
- Souvenir Post Card Company (Publisher)
- 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 postcard 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
Postmarked postcard mailed in Pennsylvania, with a cartoon of a Jewish pawnbroker making a bargain for a mantel clock with a non-Jewish customer. This postcard 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
Postcard with a color cartoon of a pawnbroker making a deal on a mantel clock with a non-Jewish customer. The pawnbroker has a bald crown and stereotypical Jewish features: a large bulbous nose, large fleshy red lips, and short curly hair, mustache, and beard. He wears pince-nez, a red checked vest, and red striped pants. The customer wears a derby, green jacket, and red striped trousers. The pawnbroker stands on 1 side fo the counter, looking at the clock and gesturing with his hands, palms up, shoulder height. In the center window is a 3 orb pawnbroker symbol. The back has 2 postmarks, an address, and a green 1 cent United States postage stamp with an image of Benjamin Franklin. Record 2016.184.742 is another copy of this postcard.
front, bottom left, postmark, stamped, black ink : LENNI MILLS, PA. / MAY / 24 / A.M / 190 / REC’D back, top center, postmark, stamped, black ink : WOODBINE, PA. / MAY / 23 / PM / 1907 / REC’D back, top center, postmark, stamped, black ink : ...LAB / ... / ... / 190[7] / PA back, right, cursive, pencil : Mr Charlie Donohue / Lenni Mills / Pa.
Subjects
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Jews--United States--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Pawnbrokers--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
Genre
- Information Forms
- Object