A Regular Hummer!

In this horse racing scene, the leader is white man (wearing a red shirt, blue pants, and a crumpled stovepipe hat) with a long nose, a set grin and a determined look as he rides a brown horse galloping frantically from left to right. The rider digs his spurs into the horse's side, drawing blood, while the horse's tongue hangs from its mouth. A hook (attached to the saddle) flies over the horse's tail. Two other riders trail behind in the left background: a Black man (African American, who wears a light blue shirt, white pants, and a cap) gallops ahead of a white man who holds a whip in his upraised right hand. The title is imprinted in the bottom margin. The word "hummer" here means an ambitious person driven to pursue what he wants.


Nathaniel Currier, 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 (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.