'The Fox Chace', Whig cartoon of Van Buren hunted by cider-barrel hounds, 1840
Van Buren as a fox, a 'Treasury' bird round his neck, flees hounds with hard-cider-barrel bodies toward Harrison, who blocks the White House steps with a pitchfork, while Webster and Clay give chase. The tells are the animal label on Van Buren and, for bandwagon, the whole pack of cider barrels (marked 'Reform 1841', 'Better Times') and Webster and Clay all running the same way toward Harrison, drawing the Whig side as the winning crowd with the White House already in reach.
- Date
- 1840
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Whig campaign print published by John Childs, New York; monogram of Edward Williams Clay
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Van Buren Administration
- Leader
- Martin van Buren
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Event
- 1840 US Election
- Techniques
- Name-callingBandwagon
- 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 1840, US; LOC: "No known restrictions on publication."
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-84452. LOC rights: "No known restrictions on publication."
Text on the object
[Harrison:] Oh ho! you are making for the White house my boy! but it's no longer a cover for you, I'm put here to keep you out of it! [Webster:] He is nearly run out! he will not go another turn! see how his tail droops! [Clay:] Hoicks! Hoicks! Tallyho! Look out General or he'll get into his hole! [Van Buren, as the fox:] I must get to cover as soon as possible, my race is nearly run! D-n these cider barrel hounds. [On the fox:] Treasury [On the barrel-hounds:] TIP'S DOG HARD CIDER 1841. REFORM 1841 BETTER TIMES [Names under the figures:] Harrison Van Buren Webster Clay Price 25 Cents. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1840 by J. Childs in the Clerk's office in the District court for the S. District of N.Y. THE FOX CHACE.
Read from the 1536 x 1135 px LOC master. Speaker attributions in square brackets follow the name labels and the LOC description. 'get' in Clay's balloon is partly crossed by a whip line; 'BETTER TIMES' is partly hidden. Monogram, library numbers and the hand-written 'Deposited in the Clerk's office' note omitted.
