ORIGINAL ANTI-PROHIBITION PAINTING. THE STATUE OF LIBERTY FLOATS IN NEW YORK HARBOR, DETACHED FROM ITS PEDESTAL. A CAMEL, INSTEAD OF THE STATUE, RECLINES ON THE PEDESTAL. ANDREW VOLSTEAD, AUTHOR OF THE 1919 PROHIBITION ACT, WEARS A SUIT AND TOP HAT, HOLDS AN UMBRELLA, SITS ON THE CAMEL'S BACK, AND SNEERS AT THE MANY BEER BOTTLES FLOATING IN THE WATER. "PUT LIBERTY BACK WHERE SHE BELONGS" IS WRITTEN TO THE LEFT OF THE STATUE. "BEER FOR PROSPERITY" IS IN A FRAMED BOX BELOW THE PICTURE. THE MAJORITY OF THE SCENE IS SURROUNDED BY A PURPOSELY JAGGED LINE WITH VOLSTEAD'S HEAD AND UPPER TORSO STICKING OUT AT THE TOP.
[n.p. 1931-1933?]. 8" x 12". Original color painting on Abacco illustration board, matted and framed behind glass. Vibrant colors with some pencil sketch lines showing through. Unsigned and uninitialed. Corners chipped, a closed crack in lower left corner. On verso of board is the name of the type of board and available dimensions, "Paints Brush and Color Corporation" with distributors listed as E.H. & A.C. Friedrichs Co. of New York, The Hirshberg Company of Baltimore, and Henry M. Taws of Philadelphia. Very Good.
Ours is the only copy located, after diligent investigation. The camel, which Thomas Nast chose as the symbol of the Prohibition Party, has replaced the Statue of Liberty on the pedestal. Camels don't drink very often; when they do, they only drink water.
This item was likely painted between 1931 and 1933. The official Beer for Prosperity Campaign was organized May 1931 in New York City. Edward H. Schulze was director of the organization and announced that he would support all political candidates in favor of legalizing beer. The slogan spread over the next year and a half. Posters for this campaign in 1932 advertised that legalizing beer would bring two trillion dollars in new revenue in four years, because "millions of dollars made from bootleg Beer now finances all kinds of crimes kidnappings, etc." Another campaign poster advertised purchases of "Beer for Prosperity" Stamps to "Help Elect to Congress, Men Who Will Vote 'Yes.'" [Beer for Prosperity Campaign. (n.d.). In John J. Raskob papers. Manuscripts and Archives, Hagley Museum and Library, #m473_20100624_005; "Beer For Prosperity Campaign, Inc., Will Back Pierce's Congressional Candidacy", The Rutland Daily Herald, 23 August 1932, p.7.]
We do not know who painted this imaginative item. E.H. & A.C. Friedrichs Company was founded in 1868 and is still in business today under the modern name of Fredrix. The Hirshberg Company originated in 1845 as Hirshberg, Hollander & Company and remained in business under a few different Hirshberg names until approximately the early 1960s. Henry B. Taws opened in Philadelphia around 1897 and remained in business until at least 1931. Item #41184
Price: $750.00