Kite Flying Extraordinary! 1837
date: label: Date made
content: 1837
name: label: maker
content: Fleetwood, Anthony
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1837 print references the Panic of 1837 spurred in part by former president, Andrew Jackson’s implementation of the Specie Circular in 1836. The Executive Order dictated that all government land desired by speculators be paid for in specie currency (silver or gold) given the rapidly deteriorating value of paper currency. In this print, land speculators are flying kites made of paper currency because that is all it was considered worth using for. In the background, there is a bank as well as an “Exchange Office.” All paper money had to be exchanged for specie, but during the Panic of 1837, it was hard to get a fair exchange rate and the face value of bills was not honored. Above the image, is a poem in part reading, “God help the silly pack who placed themselves adventurous on its back. Their dreadful fall and oh! What numbers fell. Let W—ll Street and the want of credit tell.” At this time placing a dash between letters represented a bad word, so by choosing to do that with Wall Street, it showed just much the banking system was disliked at this time.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The lithographer of this print is Anthony Fleetwood. Born in England around 1800, Fleetwood became active in New York starting in 1827. He remained in New York until 1847, when he moved to Cincinnati. He remained in that city until at least 1860, and from 1849 to 1859, ran the lithography firm Fleetwood and Son with his two sons Charles and Caleb who were also lithographers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1830-1839
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Parks, public
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Commercial Buildings
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.60.3393
label: catalog number
content: 60.3393
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 9 1/4 in x 13 1/4 in; 23.495 cm x 33.655 cm