Postcard depicting a caricatured boy eating a slice of watermelon: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A postcard depicting a caricatured boy eating a slice of watermelon. The front of postcard features a color illustration of a boy eating a slice of watermelon. The boy is smiling widely and holding a partially eaten watermelon slice in both hands. He wears a blue shirt with black suspenders. Illustrated stalks of corn are to the side and in front of him. A black printed signature under the illustration reads [R. F. Outcault]. Black printed text at the top right reads [I'M VERY BUSY JUST NOW]. Blue printed text in the bottom right corner [COPYRIGHT 1905 BY J. OTTMANN LITH. CO. N.H.]. The postcard is inscribed in black ink on the top, left corner of the recto with the text [June 14, 1909]. The right side of the recto is inscribed in black ink with the text [getting ready to / go to the seashore / Harwich port on / the Cape. We go the / middle or last of the / week for the summer. / I like the Dr. & Mrs. / Bragg very much and / Foxboro is fine too. / I'm awfully sorry we / lose you from Royalston. / We shall miss you & / Margaret. Wasn't it / sad about Gladys Jackson? / How does Wesley take it?]. The inscription continues on the verso [Hope you are all / well and happy. / How is old Jim & / sport? If you will / answer this I / will try to give / you more details / next time. My address / is Olive H. Holden, / Foxboro, Mass. / of Dr. F. A. Bragg / Ask Marge to please / write]. Printed on the top, center of the recto is the text [POST CARD] and [THIS SIDE FOR ADDRESS] printed on the bottom left edge. The postcard has been addressed to [Mrs. Fred W. Holmann / Chesterfield, / N.H.]. Inside the stamp box is a green one cent U.S. postage stamp and postmarked [FOXBORO / 1909 / MASS]. Along the top edge of the recto is an inscription in pencil [signed Outcault 10- as is].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1909
• Illustrated by: Richard Felton Outcault, American, 1863 - 1928
• Printed by: J. Ottmann Lithographing Company, American, 1874 - 1910
• Subject of: Olive H. Holden, American
• Type: postcards
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (8.9 x 14 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Correspondence
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2007.7.404
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.