"'Buck' taking the 'Pot'" (Currier, 1856)
Card-game cartoon in which Buchanan, holding four aces and a cauldron of "Union Soup", claims the winnings while Frémont lies tripped on a "Rock of Disunion" and a blindfolded Fillmore says 'BUCK wins, and I am satisfied'. The tells: the rivals are shown conceding before any vote is counted (bandwagon); the rivals are tagged with "Disunion" and "Abolition" labels (loaded labels); and the winner's speech is built on "glorious UNION" (virtue words in place of a claim).
- Date
- 1856
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Nathaniel Currier, New York (publisher)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Pierce Administration
- Leader
- Franklin Pierce
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Event
- 1856 US Election
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain: published 1856, US; LOC: "No known restrictions on publication."
LC-USZ62-92042; Nathaniel Currier (publisher), New York, 1856; Library of Congress, Stern Collection
Text on the object
I have fairly beaten them at their own game, and now that I have became possessed of this great Reservoir I will see that each and EVERY STATE of this great and glorious UNION receives its proper Share of this sacred food. [balloon, Buchanan at left] I regret to say that "GOING IT BLIND" is a loosing Game; I did hope that I would be able to dip my spoon in the POT without much difficulty.— My HAND is played out— "BUCK" wins, and I am satisfied.— Four aces can't be beat! and BUCK holds them.— [balloon, blindfolded figure at right] Oh, that I had been born a dog!— This is too much for mortal man to bear. Had I not stumbled over that BLASTED rock, I might have reached the fount of my ambition and with this good ladle "DEAL" to the North, and leave the South to "SHUFFLE & CUT" off their mortal coil, by starvation, I shall have to "PASS".— [balloon, fallen figure] UNION SOUP [on the cauldron] ROCK OF DISUNION [on the rock] [illegible: word on the spoon handle] "BUCK" taking the "POT". For Sale at N° 2 Spruce St N.Y.
Read from a 1536 px grayscale scan. Faint pencil names under the figures (Buchanan, Frémont, Fillmore) are library annotations. The word on the fallen figure's spoon handle is too small to read with confidence (LOC's summary gives "Abolition").
