Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth or the Sad Condition of the Wigs in 1836
date: label: Date made
content: 1836
name: label: depicted
content: Van Buren, Martin
label: depicted
content: Calhoun, John Caldwell
label: depicted
content: Clay, Henry
label: depicted
content: Johnson, Richard Mentor
label: depicted
content: Granger, Francis
label: depicted
content: White, Hugh L.
label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This 1836 print refernces the Election of 1836 between Democratic Vice President Martin Van Buren, and a slate of Whig candidates including, William Henry Harrison and Daniel Webster. In this print, there are two soup kitchens run by the opposing political parties. On the left, is the Whig soup kitchen. Four men, South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, presidential candidate Hugh L. White, vice presidential candidate Francis Granger, and Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, are all mixing ingredients in a large pot, while Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster dishes out the soup in a cup labeled “Bank Soup.” Several of the men eating from their pot appear to be sick, and they complain that the soup “smells too rank as if it was made of old wigs.” Behind the soup pot is a clothesline of wigs, as well as flags reading “Constitution in Danger,” and “American Party,” and a cask labeled “Spirits of 76.” On the right, is the Democratic soup kitchen. Van Buren alone stirs the “Democratic Party Soup,” while his running mate, Richard M. Johnson watches from a far. The men eating Van Buren’s soup are cheerful, begging for more and enjoying the “soup particularly recommended by old Hickory.” Behind the soup pot are banners reading, “No Monopoly,” “Union and Victory,” and others depicting the Democratic Party as successful. Party newspapers are spread at the base of each soup pot.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The artist of the print is unknown.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
topic: label: Subject
content: Economy
label: Subject
content: Drinking
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Eating
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Communication, newspapers
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.60.3408
label: catalog number
content: 60.3408
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 8 3/8 in x 15 5/8 in; 21.2725 cm x 39.6875 cm