Content note: Caricature of a general as a monkey on a street organ. This object is shown as it was published. Why
"The Whig Organ" (Frank Bellew, The Lantern, 28 August 1852)
A street organ-grinder turns an organ labelled 'TRIBUNE' and 'BATTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC' while a plumed-hat monkey points; a small dog on a leash with a human-like face sits at lower left; sub-title: 'Exhibiting a specimen of the feathered tribe'. LOC's old caption card (unverified), not any printed label, identifies the grinder as Greeley's Tribune and the monkey as Winfield Scott. Tell for name-calling: the monkey labels Scott by animal comparison in place of any argument about his record.
- Date
- 1852
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- The Lantern, New York (drawn by Frank Bellew)
- 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
[On the organ:] BATTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC TRIBUNE [On the shop front at left:] FRENCH HOTEL [partly legible] [Signature at lower left:] F. BELLEW [Title:] THE WHIG ORGAN. [Sub-title:] EXHIBITING A SPECIMEN OF THE FEATHERED TRIBE.
Read from a 480x640 derivative. The shop-sign wording is small and only partly legible; the LOC date (28 Aug. 1852) and the magazine name come from the LOC note, not from the printed page shown.
