Shooting the Christmas Turkey
date: label: Date made
content: 1848
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Taylor, Zachary
label: depicted
content: Fillmore, Millard
label: depicted
content: Cass, Lewis
label: possibly depicted
content: Wilmot, David
label: depicted
content: Greeley, Horace
label: maker
content: Baillie, James S.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This print refers to the election of 1848. This election featured Martin Van Buren running as a third party candidate for the Free Soil Party, and the main fear of the Whigs and Democrats was that he would split the vote and steal the presidency from them. That fear is captured in this print. On the left, Democratic candidate Lewis Cass and Whig candidate Zachery Taylor argue over the best way to kill a turkey, while Van Buren depicted as a fox, sneaks from behind and steals the prize. Whig Vice Presidential candidate Millard Fillmore witnesses the theft, saying “I thought the informal fox [Van Buren] was dead, but he has come out of his hole and carried off the prize while we were disputing about the preliminaries.” David Wilmot is standing behind Van Buren holding a copy of the Wilmot Proviso raising his arms in victory. Abolitionist editor Horace Greeley, who had been keeping tally for Call and Taylor, gleefully thumbs his nose at the candidates, making his support of Van Buren known.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of the print is James S. Baillie. He was active in New York from 1838 to 1855, and known for his hand coloring as well as lithography. Baillie worked as a colorist for Courier and Ives, but is well known for his own work, including many prints depicting the Election of 1848.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Christmas
label: Subject
content: Wild Animals
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1840-1849
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Birds
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Turkeys
label: Subject
content: Holidays and Celebrations, general
label: Subject
content: Hunting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Peters Political Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3395
label: catalog number
content: 60.3395
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 10 5/8 in x 15 1/4 in; 26.9875 cm x 38.735 cm