The Statue Unveiled: Or the Colossus of Roads

In this political print, a white-haired, elegantly dressed man (Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1794 – 1877) is presented as a very tall giant draped in a black robe standing at the center of the image. In his right hand he holds a hose (attached to a fire hydrant, lower right) so he can water the intersection (lower left) of two sets of railroad tracks. The Hudson River Railroad (identified within the image as "HUDSON RIVER R.R.") extends horizontally along the bottom of the image; the second set of tracks (identified as "NEW YORK CENTRAL R.R.") extends diagonally to the right middle ground, where a locomotive approaches. Vanderbilt was the owner of both of these train lines. In his left hand, he holds a whip and reins that extend to a small brown horse trotting in the left middle ground. Further left, a small man (James Fisk) stands next to a large bucket and he waters (with a hand-powered pump) a small stretch of　railroad track labeled "ERIE R.R." as he glances up at the gigantic man. On the river in the left background, there is a three-masted steamboat, with a "V" on the white flag flying off the front mast. The print's punning title (imprinted in the bottom margin) alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which was a gigantic statue of the Greek sun god Helios, erected around 280 B. C. in the city of Rhodes (Greece) to celebrate the city’s successful defense against enemy attack.

Vanderbilt, nicknamed "The Commodore," was one of the wealthiest and most powerful Americans in his day, due to his strategic ownership of railroad and shipping businesses. In 1864, he had bought a controlling interest of the Hudson River Railroad, followed in 1867, with the purchase of the New York Central Railroad. This print satirizes Vanderbilt as the colossal owner of those two railroad lines, who, in 1868, began aggressively trying to take over　the Erie Railroad. Vanderbilt sought to buy all the Erie Railroad stocks. The majority of the shares were co-owned by James Fisk, Daniel Drew and Jay Gould, who, to thwart Vanderbilt, kept on creating additional stock shares (that is, "watering down" the stock values). Newspapers avidly covered the controversial dealings of the "Erie War", which eventually involved the New York legal authorities. Although Vanderbilt ultimately was not successful in taking over the Erie Railroad, he exacted revenge by having its partners buy back the "watered' stock shares he had purchased.　　

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.