Why the Gilded Age . . . and Why Now?

Abstract

No one who sees the cartoon can misunderstand its meaning. The image it portrays is indelible even though the author shows only a single individual, an obese man, probably in late middle age. We immediately notice that a huge pot belly protrudes over his belt line and that a tight vest stretches across his enormous chest. That he has both hands inserted firmly into his trouser’s pockets only intensifies the strain on his vest. Above the V made by the top of his vest he, or most likely a valet, has pinned an enormous circular broach. If we look closely enough, we can see a tiny bowtie peaking out from under what should be his chin. But oddly, his chin is missing and his head has no human features. Instead, his cranium is actually a money bag embossed, not with eyes, nose, and mouth, but with a single, large dollar sign. The bag is tied at the top just where we would expect to see a tuft of hair. This powerful image first appeared in Harper’s Weekly on October 21, 1871. Its creator, the iconoclastic political cartoonist Thomas Nast, entitled it “The Brains.” He meant it as a blistering caricature of “Boss” William Tweed, the front man of that quintessential wellspring of political corruption, Tammany Hall in New York City. So Nast, the man who has also given us our most recognizable image of Santa Claus, has also created a glyph of capitalist modernity and the role of money in politics that is as recognizable and as timeless an image as a Lascaux bull. Now let’s move forward 139 years to October 2010. Here we discover a new cartoon. In this one, four male figures stand in a row speaking in pairs. In the first duo, the one closest to us, a short, overweight, middle-aged man with a brush haircut and wearing a t-shirt reading “Tea Party Patriot,” speaks to his companion, who wears a finely tailored three-piece business suit. The short man is telling the business man Int J Histor Archaeol (2012) 16:623–633 DOI 10.1007/s10761-012-0205-y