Campaign poster for 1860 U.S. presidential candidate John Bell and his running mate, Edward Everett 1860

This 1860 campaign poster for John Bell and Edward Everett was produced by Currier and Ives, using lithography. The process involves drawing with a grease crayon onto a flat slab of limestone, treating it with chemicals, and then using oil-based inks to print the image. Lithography was a revolutionary technique that democratized image-making. Unlike earlier forms of printmaking, it did not require painstaking carving. This allowed for mass production of images, contributing to a visual culture increasingly tied to consumption and political mobilization. The poster's symbolism – the eagle, the constitution – gains added significance when you consider that it was made for mass consumption, to persuade voters. Currier and Ives’ printmaking business was a factory of images, churning out idealized visions of American life while obscuring the economic and social realities of the time. Recognizing the labor involved in making images like this one helps us understand their wider cultural importance.