"A Full Hand"

In this amusing vertical print, a man --with a caricatured wide-eyed, crazed look, spiky hair and a handlebar mustache-- holds a baby in each arm. The pair of infants are dressed in white gowns. In front of the man, two more bablies lie beneath a green blanket in a straw bassinet. Each baby seems to stare open-mouthed. At the bottom of the image, a disembodied hand holds up five playing cards, with the king of hearts shown on top. The title "A FULL HAND" is imprinted beneath the image, which presents a man literally with his hands full of babies, while the "full hand" of cards indicates "three of a kind and a pair" in a poker game.

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.