Why the Gilded Age . . . and Why Now?
Charles E. Orser Jr.
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) Department of Anthropology
, New York State Museum,
Albany, NY 12230, USA
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No one who sees the cartoon can misunderstand its meaning. The image it portrays is
indelible even though the author shows only a single individual, an obese man,
probably in late middle age. We immediately notice that a huge pot belly protrudes
over his belt line and that a tight vest stretches across his enormous chest. That he has
both hands inserted firmly into his trousers pockets only intensifies the strain on his
vest. Above the V made by the top of his vest he, or most likely a valet, has pinned an
enormous circular broach. If we look closely enough, we can see a tiny bowtie
peaking out from under what should be his chin. But oddly, his chin is missing and
his head has no human features. Instead, his cranium is actually a money bag
embossed, not with eyes, nose, and mouth, but with a single, large dollar sign. The
bag is tied at the top just where we would expect to see a tuft of hair.
This powerful image first appeared in Harpers Weekly on October 21, 1871. Its
creator, the iconoclastic political cartoonist Thomas Nast, entitled it The Brains. He
meant it as a blistering caricature of Boss William Tweed, the front man of that
quintessential wellspring of political corruption, Tammany Hall in New York City. So
Nast, the man who has also given us our most recognizable image of Santa Claus, has
also created a glyph of capitalist modernity and the role of money in politics that is as
recognizable and as timeless an image as a Lascaux bull.
Now lets move forward 139 years to October 2010. Here we discover a new
cartoon. In this one, four male figures stand in a row speaking in pairs. In the first
duo, the one closest to us, a short, overweight, middle-aged man with a brush haircut
and wearing a t-shirt reading Tea Party Patriot, speaks to his companion, who wears
a finely tailored three-piece business suit. The short man is telling the business man
Your TV ads attacking the Big Government Liberal Democrats are Great! . . . But,
Im curious, who are you guys? His companion replies Dont worry about that little
man. Just remember, were on your side! Behind the back of these two men and
beyond their hearing, one of the men in the other pairboth of whom also wear
three-piece suitswhispers to the other Psst! Isnt he one of the chumps we laid
off? referring to the man wearing the t-shirt. This dialogue has profound meaning to
many Great Recession Americans, but what is immediately remarkable about the men
in the business suits is that they all have heads made of money bags embossed with a
single dollar sign. Only the man in the t-shirt has a human face. The artist of this
cartoon, David Horsey, entitled it Mysterious money men behind attack ads.
The gifted artists of these two clever cartoons, separated in date by over a century,
skillfully communicate trenchant social messages about their times. Among the many
messages that might be revealed by these visual commentaries, two stand out most
prominently. The first is that wealthy men with enormously deep pockets have the
resources to control the course of events. Their heads are so filled with thoughts of
financial gain and dreams of wealth that they have essentially become sacks of
money. Their power and authority is betrayed by their dress, their comportment,
and, at least in the second cartoon, their words. These money-bag men are
comfortable being in charge. A second message contained in the cartoons, however, is
perhaps the most devastating to consider. This message has at least two facets: first,
that things may not have changed so much in the United States between 1871 and
2010men with heads of money still control the nations economics and rule its
social hierarchyand second, that the nation has returned to a time when riches rule
and those with do not attempt to hide their rule over those without. Their heads of
money are plainly on display and they cannot conceal it nor do they care to do so.
Both facets are true. American citizens today live in a Second Gilded Age, a time of
unembarrassed condescension by the wealthy and a betrayal of the social contract by
those with power, authority, and wealth. The social hierarchy remains essentially
unchanged, at its grossest level, since the late nineteenth century. Our current times mirror
an earlier Age of Betrayal (Beatty 2007). In both eras the social contract between the
government and its people, if not completely severed, was at least in tatters.
Modern-world archaeologists have a special responsibility to investigate the
material-social conditions of the past. Their research should cause us to reflect upon
our own times and to wonder why inequality and unfair advantage still exist within a
nation that unceasingly proclaims its commitment to democracy, fairness, and
equality. Modern-world archaeology is a critical historical archaeology that does not
attempt to deny the destructive power of voraciou (...truncated)