Putting the mortgage on the cradle
A saloon keeper, his apron labelled 'The Saloon', nails a sign reading 'Inherited Appetite for Liquor' to a sleeping baby's cradle while the father drinks at the table behind. The line beneath, 'Thirty-Six States Can Stop This By Constitutional Amendment', offers a single remedy for a harm staged on an infant, without evidence for the inheritance claim or any alternative.
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- American Issue Publishing Company (Anti-Saloon League of America)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Movement
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Health, Elections and party politics
- Event
- US Prohibition Campaign
- Techniques
- Fear appeal
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1917 in the U.S.; LoC: no known restrictions)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Text on the object
INHERITED APPETITE FOR LIQUOR [on the cradle] THE SALOON [on the saloon keeper's apron] SALOON [shop sign, background] Putting the mortgage on the cradle. —The Instructor. Thirty-Six States Can Stop This By Constitutional Amendment SERIES G. No. 19. THE AMERICAN ISSUE PUBLISHING CO., WESTERVILLE, OHIO.
A small printed emblem/logo beneath the publisher's imprint is too small to read and is not transcribed.
