Besides Nast’s mastery
of caricature, knowledge of classic literature and
mythology, inventive mind, and impish sense of humor, the
incorporation of catchphrases and symbols into his cartoons
was one of his most effective, and sometimes devastating,
techniques. That skill is nowhere on better display
than in his images of Horace Greeley. This website
features Nast’s Greeley cartoons organized by four
catchphrases—“What I Know About…”; “Clasp Hands over the
Bloody Chasm”; “Anything to…”; and “Go West, Young Man, Go
West”—along with two symbols—the Gratz Brown nametag and the
organ that was not an organ. Nast’s relentless use of
these epithets and emblems merged into a negative public
image that helped bury the candidacy of Horace Greeley.
The
phrase was popularized by Horace Greeley in the 1840's to
encourage immigration to the American West, but applied by Nast
in 1872 to indicate the exit of the Greeley president campaign.
October 12, 1872, p. 792
“Swinging Round the Circle”
November 2, 1872, p. 848
“We Are on the Home Stretch”
November 23, 1872, p. 905
“The Insult Returned”
November 23, 1872, p. 920
“Our Artist’s Occupation Gone”
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