Postcard, Suffrage
Object number2000.026.08
Date1909
MediumPaper & ink
DimensionsOverall: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (8.9 x 14 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
Terms
"In 1909, at the height of the woman suffrage controversy and during the golden age of postcards, the Dunston-Weiler Lithograph Company of New York produced a twelve-card set of full-color lithographic cartoon postcards opposing woman suffrage. Although many companies produced series of woman suffrage related postcards, the Dunston-Weiler set is noteworthy for its graphic appeal. The postcard images reflect, and depart from, verbal arguments concerning woman suffrage prevalent during this period. They reflect arguments against suffrage that highlighted the coarsening effect the vote would have on women. The postcards also present an argument that was absent in the verbal discourse surrounding suffrage: that men (and the nation) would become feminized by woman suffrage. Accordingly, these postcards offer a productive location in which to explore how the icons of the Madonna and Uncle Sam, as well as non-iconic images of women, were deployed to reiterate the disciplinary norms of the ideographs of
-Palczewski Suffrage Postcard Archive
Palczewski, Catherine H. Postcard Archive. University of Northern Iowa. Cedar Falls, IA.
Women's suffrage postcard. Made in Sorento, Illinois by Dunston-Weiler Lithograph Co. Gold trim. The card shows a man wearing an apron and doing laundry. A baby and a cat sit on the floor in front of him. At the bottom: "I want to vote but My Wife Won't Let Me". Postcard is suffragette series no.11.
Status
Not on view
