Evening journal., 1888-07-11


Tho first thing that strikes the customer on
antering the Display room OF ono Of these
shops is the sublime Indifference cf the dealer.
On one wall Is stretched a mammoth banner
bearing Democratic legends, fanked by the
colossal portraits Of Cleveland and Thurman;
on the opposite, Harrison and Morton beam
down from silk or muslin, while elsewhere
Fisk or Cowdrey or Streeter, or even Belva
Lockwood, may shine in chrome and oil. The
work room is a comical sight Here, Cleve-
land in mere outline shines in a picture just
commenced; there Harrison family looms
out of a cloud, and yonder is Thurman with
one eye and "gameyn look As rulo the
big banners are made in sets, twenty or thirty
at a time. The ''easela is all one side Of a
room, which reaches up through two stories;
the canvas iii it is for the common nrticlel
is Of unheached muslin which has had one
"sizingN OF oil and lead, and before that are
half dozen men and often as many boys
standing, kneeling or perched on step ladders,
zach working according to his own capacity,
and all deing some part Of the same picture.
The satirist Of the other party often points a
joke by referring 20 the mammoth portrait
as done with hose ora squirt gun, or daubed
on by a sign painter In reality, the por-
traits, even on the cheapest banners, must be
painted by fairly good artists, and the pro
cess is as follows:
Suppose there are orders in FOR mann
moth banner 20 by 20 feet, to hang from rope
stretched across the street from "head-
quarters" ON the left, Of course, Is 'our
gallant standard bearer on tho right his
vice, above tho party legend, and all around
the emblems Of industry, agriculture, peace,
fortune, or any particular goddess the ex-
uberant fancy Of the committeeman may
suggest. The muslin is stretched and .'sizedn
with lead and oil then the boss designer
makes the letter outlines in faint crayon, and
the boys, apprentices or unskiilful hands, 20
to painting them in. If in colors, there Is a
different painter for each color The artist
then tackles tho portrait, and soon the cloudy
profile Of the candidate shows Ia faint crayan
lines Then come the tinters and very often
thirty different col0rs are used, rarely less
than twenty Each tinter has "schoman
much like the mapped out head one sees on a
chronological chart, only instead Of being
marked "Amativenass,n "Philoprogenitive-
ness, etc, the little sections of his 'schemen
head are marked "Pink,n deep Flesh r
"Florid," etc.
Suppose it is bust, "Grover Clave-
land,n four feet high; when the crayon
man has finished his work there is
ghastly, barely recognizable outline, and
he proceeds 20 his THURMAN at the
other end, or 20 Harrison or "FislsN
elsewhere. Then comes the heavy tinter, and
bright red spots glow here and there on the
presidential simulncrum, after which tho
picture looks as If it had been bombarded
with chunks Of raw liver. Next comes tho
first artist in hair and when he is done the
presidential head is dark brown on the top.
Then another tinter adds tho neck shading,
another the cheek variation and still another
the pink, yermilion, ETC., and last Of all the
fnisher who does the "blending.n And now
there is a face and head without eyes, perched
on frame, which is to bea coat and shirt by
and BY. The eyes are put in by skilled
workman, the coat and shirt rapidly brushed
on by boys, and last of all the "bluo slxy' Is
poured around the portrait by an apprentice
with astonishing rapidity. And each ono Of
these workmen can 60 over twenty or thirty
portraits a day. Last of all the muslin
strips are firmly fastened on an immense
netting, just like rectangular section Of a
coarse fish seine; stout rope is reefed in along
the borders, and to be fastened to the main
supporting rope, and 80 the mammoth ban
ner is ready for the committee at a cost of
from $50 70 500 according to the complexity
Of tho design.