"The game-cock & the goose" (Yankee Notions lithograph, 1852)
Scott, in uniform and tipping his hat, rides a fighting cock ahead of Pierce, who rides a goose and cries 'I shall Faint'. Scott taunts him: 'what a Goose!' The tell for name-calling is the goose and the pun on 'Faint' and 'Constitutional', animal labels standing in for a case about the candidates' fitness; LOC calls the print 'pro-Whig': it flatters Scott and belittles Pierce.
- Date
- 1852
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Office of Yankee Notions, 98 Nassau St., New York (lithographed by Thomas W. Strong; drawn by John L. Magee)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Fillmore Administration
- Leader
- Millard Fillmore
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Event
- 1852 US Election
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain: published 1852, US; LOC rights: "No known restrictions on publication."
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Text on the object
[Speech box, Scott:] Scott | What's the matter, Pierce? feel "Faint"? ha! ha! ha!! lord what a "Goose"! dont you wish you had my "Cock"? well good bye, Pierce, good bye. [Speech box, Pierce:] Pierce | O dear me! I shall "Faint", I know I shall "Faint", its "Constitutional" [Title:] THE GAME-COCK & THE GOOSE. [Imprint:] Pub. at the office of Yankee Notions 98 Nassau St. N.Y.
Read from a 640 px derivative in which the speech boxes are small; the wording matches the LOC summary, but the placement of quotation marks and the final punctuation of Pierce's line could not be confirmed. The lithographer's credit at lower right is too small to read and is omitted.
