7 ms·

Grand Ball Given by the Whales (1861)

85 points by sirobg 3y ago

tomcam 3y ago
Whale oil was a huge business back then. Oil lanterns were ubiquitous in businesses and in homes. Whalers were very well paid and doing a very physical and relatively dangerous job, sort like frackers now.
- lovecg 3y ago
  On that note, “Moby Dick” is a surprisingly detailed and accurate depiction of whalers’ day to day, I learned a lot.
  - ulizzle 3y ago
    There's a movie called "In the Heart of the Sea" which you should watch. It's about the same shipwreck of the Essex that Melville took inspiration from.
    - mordechai9000 3y ago
      It's based on an excellent book, of the same title. The book delves into the social structure of Nantucket society and the whaleship crews, the personal backgrounds of many of the officers and men, and the details of the whaling business. I don't remember if the film showed this, but the captain had to go home and tell his sister they ate her son, his nephew. It was second disastrous voyage, if I remember correctly, and it was the end of his career. No one would risk a whaling ship under him again.
      - hprotagonist 3y ago
        Almost. Pollard captained the Two Brothers on his return…which promptly sank. Then he quit. Owen Chase, Thomas Nickerson and others returned to sea multiple times.
  - quercusa 3y ago
    Moby Dick is a great book, but it's a mistake to make 16-year-olds read it. I've heard of many people reading it 30 years later and really enjoying it.
- soperj 3y ago
  It was the 5th largest industry in the US in the 1850s, the US had by far the most whaling ships of any nation.
1970-01-01 3y ago
160+ years later and still funny
katzgrau 3y ago
I’ve always been a fan of anthropomorphic depictions of animals, and I have no idea why. The Far Side was always a favorite. Minor aside: 4/20 - ahead of its time
hhs 3y ago
Interestingly, the whaling industry had been similar to the way venture capital works today. Tom Nicholas talks about this in his book, "VC: An American History" [0]. [0]: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/10/01/today-venture-capitalists-owe-something-century-whalers/zulg0d1XpMX561OSWepcDM/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/10/01/today-ventur...
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
earthboundkid 3y ago
"The Oil Wells of Our Native Land: May They Never Secede" That's a good Civil War joke.
- sirobg 3y ago
  Could you explain?
  - MoSattler 3y ago
    This illustration was created shortly after the American Civil War began, a conflict that started when the South seceded.
    - sirobg 3y ago
      Thanks! I think I have the context, but I don't get the joke
      - UncleSlacky 3y ago
        The oil wells were in Pennsylvania, which was on the Union side.
        sirobg 3y ago
        So the whales are saying: "May They Never Secede" talking about the wells, in reference to the confederacy whom already seceded. And they say this because obviously if the wells "seceded", humans would go back to whale hunting. Do I understand it correctly now?
        fzzzy 3y ago
        Yes.
  - bryanrasmussen 3y ago
    it's a joke that has changed meaning over time. Pennsylvania had the oil wells at that time, although given that Standard Oil was founded in 1870 didn't think they were yet so important that one would pray for their success. The South seceded, along with Texas. Pennsylvania didn't secede so all good. But later Pennsylvania didn't have any more oil worth mentioning, but Texas did. From our viewpoint the joke operates on two levels, that of its time - let's hope Pennsylvania doesn't secede because then we're screwed! And that looking back - Texas did secede and they prayed for the states with the oil not to secede hah hah, irony. The irony indicating somewhat that usefulness of a resource is time dependent.
serallak 3y ago
As an aside, the illustration strongly remind me of the classic illustrations in the Alice in Wonderland book (published in 1865). I wonder if it is the same artist or if it was a shared style at the time.
- doitLP 3y ago
  Probably just similar style. Most print illustration at this time were still using woodcuts, negative images carved out, stamped with ink and used in the printing press: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut
zokier 3y ago
The sad thing it took another 100 years to whaling to truly decline; afaik whaling peaked in 1960s so the grand ball was somewhat premature.
JoeDaDude 3y ago
The cartoonist's name is not given. Does anyone know who created it?
- lqet 3y ago
  The original issue of Vanity Fair (https://www.google.de/books/edition/Vanity_Fair/P-5NAQAAMAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=vanity+fair+april+20+1861&pg=PA189&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.de/books/edition/Vanity_Fair/P-5NAQAAMAAJ...) doesn't name the author, but there is a monogram (HLS) on the bottom left corner. HLS seems to have been a regular contributor to Vanity Fair in that time. It seems to have been Henry Louis Stephens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Stephens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Stephens) - time, magazine and the depiction of animals check out: > Stephens was well known as a caricaturist, excelling especially in the humorous delineation of animals, and drew cartoons and sketches for The Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor (1858), a book edited by William Evans Burton, Vanity Fair (1859–63), Mrs. Grundy (1869), Punchline (1870), and other periodicals. Here is another one of him: https://www.brandywine.org/sites/default/files/styles/body_full/public/media/stephens%20figure%208.jpg?itok=Nx-ehvzL https://www.brandywine.org/sites/default/files/styles/body_f...
jihadjihad 3y ago
It's like an 1860s version of the Chick-fil-A cows holding signs that say, "Eat Mor Chikin"

85 points by sirobg 3y ago

Whale oil was a huge business back then. Oil lanterns were ubiquitous in businesses and in homes. Whalers were very well paid and doing a very physical and relatively dangerous job, sort like frackers now.

lovecg 3y ago
On that note, “Moby Dick” is a surprisingly detailed and accurate depiction of whalers’ day to day, I learned a lot.
- ulizzle 3y ago
  There's a movie called "In the Heart of the Sea" which you should watch. It's about the same shipwreck of the Essex that Melville took inspiration from.
  - mordechai9000 3y ago
    It's based on an excellent book, of the same title. The book delves into the social structure of Nantucket society and the whaleship crews, the personal backgrounds of many of the officers and men, and the details of the whaling business. I don't remember if the film showed this, but the captain had to go home and tell his sister they ate her son, his nephew. It was second disastrous voyage, if I remember correctly, and it was the end of his career. No one would risk a whaling ship under him again.
    - hprotagonist 3y ago
      Almost. Pollard captained the Two Brothers on his return…which promptly sank. Then he quit. Owen Chase, Thomas Nickerson and others returned to sea multiple times.
- quercusa 3y ago
  Moby Dick is a great book, but it's a mistake to make 16-year-olds read it. I've heard of many people reading it 30 years later and really enjoying it.
soperj 3y ago
It was the 5th largest industry in the US in the 1850s, the US had by far the most whaling ships of any nation.

1970-01-01 3y ago

160+ years later and still funny

katzgrau 3y ago

I’ve always been a fan of anthropomorphic depictions of animals, and I have no idea why. The Far Side was always a favorite. Minor aside: 4/20 - ahead of its time

hhs 3y ago

Interestingly, the whaling industry had been similar to the way venture capital works today. Tom Nicholas talks about this in his book, "VC: An American History" [0]. [0]: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/10/01/today-venture-capitalists-owe-something-century-whalers/zulg0d1XpMX561OSWepcDM/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/10/01/today-ventur...

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

earthboundkid 3y ago

"The Oil Wells of Our Native Land: May They Never Secede" That's a good Civil War joke.

sirobg 3y ago
Could you explain?
- MoSattler 3y ago
  This illustration was created shortly after the American Civil War began, a conflict that started when the South seceded.
  - sirobg 3y ago
    Thanks! I think I have the context, but I don't get the joke
    - UncleSlacky 3y ago
      The oil wells were in Pennsylvania, which was on the Union side.
      - sirobg 3y ago
        So the whales are saying: "May They Never Secede" talking about the wells, in reference to the confederacy whom already seceded. And they say this because obviously if the wells "seceded", humans would go back to whale hunting. Do I understand it correctly now?
        fzzzy 3y ago
        Yes.
- bryanrasmussen 3y ago
  it's a joke that has changed meaning over time. Pennsylvania had the oil wells at that time, although given that Standard Oil was founded in 1870 didn't think they were yet so important that one would pray for their success. The South seceded, along with Texas. Pennsylvania didn't secede so all good. But later Pennsylvania didn't have any more oil worth mentioning, but Texas did. From our viewpoint the joke operates on two levels, that of its time - let's hope Pennsylvania doesn't secede because then we're screwed! And that looking back - Texas did secede and they prayed for the states with the oil not to secede hah hah, irony. The irony indicating somewhat that usefulness of a resource is time dependent.

serallak 3y ago

As an aside, the illustration strongly remind me of the classic illustrations in the Alice in Wonderland book (published in 1865). I wonder if it is the same artist or if it was a shared style at the time.

doitLP 3y ago
Probably just similar style. Most print illustration at this time were still using woodcuts, negative images carved out, stamped with ink and used in the printing press: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut

zokier 3y ago

The sad thing it took another 100 years to whaling to truly decline; afaik whaling peaked in 1960s so the grand ball was somewhat premature.

JoeDaDude 3y ago

The cartoonist's name is not given. Does anyone know who created it?

lqet 3y ago
The original issue of Vanity Fair (https://www.google.de/books/edition/Vanity_Fair/P-5NAQAAMAAJ?hl=de&gbpv=1&dq=vanity+fair+april+20+1861&pg=PA189&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.de/books/edition/Vanity_Fair/P-5NAQAAMAAJ...) doesn't name the author, but there is a monogram (HLS) on the bottom left corner. HLS seems to have been a regular contributor to Vanity Fair in that time. It seems to have been Henry Louis Stephens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Stephens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Stephens) - time, magazine and the depiction of animals check out: > Stephens was well known as a caricaturist, excelling especially in the humorous delineation of animals, and drew cartoons and sketches for The Cyclopedia of Wit and Humor (1858), a book edited by William Evans Burton, Vanity Fair (1859–63), Mrs. Grundy (1869), Punchline (1870), and other periodicals. Here is another one of him: https://www.brandywine.org/sites/default/files/styles/body_full/public/media/stephens%20figure%208.jpg?itok=Nx-ehvzL https://www.brandywine.org/sites/default/files/styles/body_f...

jihadjihad 3y ago

It's like an 1860s version of the Chick-fil-A cows holding signs that say, "Eat Mor Chikin"