Schooner Yacht Cambria, 199 Tons 1870

Currier and Ives made this print of the Schooner Yacht Cambria in the United States, likely in the late nineteenth century. This was the age of the so-called "Gilded Age" where the consolidation of wealth and the rise of a leisure class transformed American society. The print romanticizes the leisure activities of this new elite through its depiction of the yacht. Note the precision of line and clarity of form, which aestheticize the craft as an object of beauty as much as a functional vessel. The American flag is proudly displayed, perhaps a knowing nod to the vessel's 1870 challenge to the British for the America's Cup. Prints such as these served as accessible status symbols for a growing middle class, who consumed images of wealth and success, even if they could not fully participate in it. As historians, we can look at this image as part of a visual culture industry that mirrored, shaped, and sometimes challenged the social norms of its time. Understanding its meaning requires attention to both the image itself and to the society that produced and consumed it.