Darktown Trolley--Through Car in Danger: Go 'Way from Dar; de Lightning Strike You

The late nineteenth-century Darktown prints by Currier & Ives depict racist stereotypes that are offensive and disturbing. The Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves such works to shed light on their historical context and to enable the study and evaluation of racism.　

This print shows a street scene with caricatured Black (African American) people. A horse-drawn fire wagon loaded with ladders races across the trolley tracks just in front of a trolley. The trolley engineer shouts at the firemen, as the trolley teeters after being braked to a sudden stop. Two firemen driving the wagon (one holding the reins, the other holding the steering wheel) do not notice the trolley, nor do two other firemen riding atop the ladders (one is playing a banjo). Above the scene, crackling bolts eminate from the trolley wires; a kite is stuck in the wires (near upper right). At the lower left, an alarmed man standing on the street gestures with upraised arms (a closed umbrella in his right hand), while a dog (looking back at the fire wagon) runs towards the man. Printing registration marks appear at the right and left of the image. The title and caption are imprinted in the bottom margin.


Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907.