Earl (American, 19th Century) and Tanner (Americ

Earl (American, 19th Century) and Tanner (American, 19th Century) Getting Away with the Bird and It Is Hard to Be Poor When It Is So Embarrassing When You Return from Shopping, newspaper or magazine cartoons (two works), circa 1900 India ink on heavyweight paper 14 x 14 inches (35.6 x 35.6 cm) (Getting Away with the Bird, image) 12 x 17-3x4 inches (30.5 x 45.1 cm) (It Is Hard to Be Poor When It Is So Embarrassing When You Return from Shopping, image) Each signed lower region: Tanner; Earl In Getting Away with the Bird, Uncle Sam and Lady Columbia are portrayed as a farmer and his wife roused in the night by a chicken-stealing Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio. The bird is labeled "Ship Subsidy" in reference to the Hanna-Payne bill of 1901 that would have allowed government funds to subsidize the ship-building industry. The measure proposed expanding the American merchant marine by encouraging the purchase of idle government ships and employment of American sailors by supplementing their pay with federal money. It was opposed by many who were hostile to big corporate interests and trusts, and failed to win Congressional approval. Information on artist Tanner could not be located. This original was likely published in a newspaper or magazine of 1901. It is a fine and early portrayal of Uncle Sam and Lady Columbia as husband-and-wife in a farm setting at a time when most Americans lived in rural and small-town environments. Included is a second original Uncle Sam cartoon by an unidentified artist probably published in a magazine circa 1900. The work is signed yet the signature cannot be deciphered. It is titled It Is Hard to Be Poor as It Is So Embarrassing When You Return from Shopping (image size 12" x 17.75"). Uncle Sam looks upon a man of the "Common People" who walks a cobblestone street, past doorways labeled "Land Trust x Lumber Trust x Clothes Trust x Food Trust x Coal Trust x Meat Trust." The poor fellow has apparently traded his pants, coat, hat, shoes, and one sock for the goods he carries in his basket. Was big business in the form the monopolistic trusts taking the American people for all it could get? Quantity: (2) HID03101062020 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.comxTexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Condition
Toning to each sheet. Scattered surface dirt with areas of concentration along edges and at corners. Small stabilized tear at lower right of Getting Away with the Bird; diagonal crease at lower right and small loss at upper left. Wear and markings to margins of pages in keeping with illustration and publishing process. Each not framed. Each sheet overall: 14.5 x 14 inches and 13.5 x 18.25 inches Heritage Auctions strongly encourages in-person inspection of items by the bidder. Statements by Heritage regarding the condition of objects are for guidance only and should not be relied upon as statements of fact, and do not constitute a representation, warranty, or assumption of liability by Heritage. All lots offered are sold "AS IS"