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Virginia in 1776, Virginia in 1861
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Two images of the "family" of Virginia. Above depicts a happy, prosperous "family" at the Declaration of Independence in 1776. A banner with the stars and stripes hangs above them. All five sons are standing or sitting attentively around the mother, seated in the center. The mother, wearing a bonnet, is sitting primly in a chair reading a book. Below is a miserable, disreputable "family" at the Ordinance of Secession in 1861. Two whips with chains and manacles hang above them. The mother, still wearing a bonnet, is slouching in the chair, clutching a bottle of liquor. Two of the sons are playing poker, one is smoking. Another son is drinking and appears overweight. The fourth son, wearing a hat, is waving a Confederate flag in his right hand. He appears to have a whip in his left hand, a cat-o-nine-tails sticking out of his jacket pocket and has one foot on a slave doll. The last son is sitting on the floor rifling the contents of a bag he has stolen. Black ink on beige envelope, image on left side. Image printed on envelope, mounted on various colored pages and collected in an album.
1860
United States. Post Office Department
Publication Information
Physical Description
Collection Information
Copyright Information
W0129Q7
WHi 76242
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The New Quaker Bonnet, 1861.
1861
A Quaker bonnet made from the Union flag. It is unlikely that any practicing Quaker would have anything to do with a "Union bonnet" because of their beliefs for pacifism and against symbolism. Quak...
Virginia Begins the War
1860
A woman wearing a red shirt and a blue blouse with seven white stars, presumably Virginia, is shooting herself with a cannon that is marked "SECESSION." Caption below reads, "Virginia begins the Wa...
You'll Catch It When Mother Wakes Up!
1860
A mother, Miss Columbia, sleeps in a four poster bed. She is wearing a liberty cap. The canopy on the bed is made of Union flags. A girl, representing the seceding states, is tearing the bed curtai...
Jefferson Davis on a Scouting Expedition
1860
A fox, with J.D. and crossbones on his leg, is wearing a coat and hat with a skull on it, and is stealing away in the night on a road labeled: "TO DIXIE'S LAND." The moon is in the clouds in the ba...
Death to Traitors
1860
The letters to the words "DEATH TO TRAITORS" are made up of soldiers, Confederate flags, gallows, a hanged man and guns. A military camp is visible in the background. Black ink on cream envelope, i...
True to the Union
1860
This envelope has a blue "L" shaped bar tipped clockwise. It is filled with white stars and next to each star is the initial of all of the states, Union and Confederate. Tucked into the corner of t...
