Currier and Ives
Nathaniel Currier stood eight years old when his father died in 1821. The event left him and his brother Lorenzo responsible for a mother and three younger siblings. They lived in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where their parents had maintained a humble existence as distant cousins. Nathaniel took on odd jobs to support the family while still a child. At fifteen, he began an apprenticeship with William and John Pendleton in Boston. This lithography shop became the foundation of his lifelong career. He moved to Philadelphia at age twenty to work for M.E.D. Brown. By 1834, he formed a partnership with Stodart, a New York printmaker. Their business produced music manuscripts and job printing materials. Nathaniel grew dissatisfied with the financial returns and dissolved the partnership in 1835. He opened his own shop under the name N. Currier, Lithographer.
James Merritt Ives joined the firm in 1857 after being recommended by Charles Currier, Nathaniel's brother. James was born the 5th of March 1824, in New York City. He married Caroline Clark in 1852, making her sister-in-law to Nathaniel's brother. James served initially as bookkeeper and accountant before becoming general manager. He modernized the firm's bookkeeping systems and reorganized inventory management. His insight into public taste helped expand the range of published images. The company added political satire and sentimental scenes like sleigh rides and steamboat races. In 1857, Nathaniel made James a full partner. The corporate name changed from N. Currier to Currier and Ives that same year. James handled the financial side while Nathaniel focused on production. Together they built one of America's most successful lithography businesses.
Over seventy-two years, the firm published at least 7,500 different lithographs. Artists created two to three new images weekly for sixty-four years between 1834 and 1895. They produced more than one million hand-colored prints using this method. Each print began with a drawing done by hand on lithographic limestone. A single stone often required over a week to prepare before printing. Workers pulled each impression manually onto cotton-based paper until the late 1860s. Then they switched to paper mixed with small amounts of wood pulp. Dozens of women, many immigrants from Germany with art backgrounds, colored the prints. These workers operated in assembly-line fashion, applying one color per person. They earned six dollars for every hundred colored prints. Skilled artists like Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, Louis Maurer, and Frances Flora Bond Palmer signed important pieces. Their work appeared on three floors of their Spruce Street building: presses below, artists above, and colorists highest.
The firm's output covered hunting, fishing, whaling, city life, rural scenes, historical events, clipper ships, yachts, steamships, railroads, politics, comedy, gold mining, winter scenes, portraits, and still lifes. From 1866 onward, they occupied three floors at 33 Spruce Street in New York. Small works sold between five and twenty cents while large ones cost one to three dollars. The company distributed through pushcart vendors, peddlers, bookstores, mail orders, and international agents. In London alone, they maintained an office and European representatives. By 1872, their catalog declared that all published items met quick and ready sales. Catharine Esther Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe considered these prints appropriate home decorations. Their interest in current events and sentimental taste made the products popular wall hangings. Nathaniel Currier died in 1888, leaving James Merritt Ives to run the business until his own death in 1895. Both men's sons continued operations before liquidation occurred in 1907.
More than half of approximately 500 comic prints produced were known as Darktown Comics. These images depicted African Americans in demeaning ways intended to mock them for white audiences. Thomas Worth recreated a Statue of Liberty image using an African American woman similar to mammy figures holding torches. Every single Darktown Comic series became a bestseller according to J. Michael Martinez. One print from this series sold at least 73,000 copies via pushcarts and country stores. Albert Baragwanath noted that the humor lay in gross burlesque targeting middle-class customers. The firm inadvertently created a pictorial record of nineteenth-century American values including contemporary racism. Despite modern criticism, many of these images remain readily available for purchase today. They represent one of the most controversial aspects of the company's extensive output.
Currier and Ives established outlets across multiple cities throughout America and London. They utilized pushcart vendors and peddlers to reach rural markets directly. Mail orders required prepaid payments only for delivery to customers nationwide. Their London office managed international distribution through European agents. Small works priced between five and twenty cents appealed to working-class buyers. Large pieces costing one to three dollars attracted wealthier collectors. By 1872, their catalog proudly stated that all published items met quick sales expectations. The public demand for lithographs gradually diminished due to improvements in offset printing technology. Photoengraving processes eventually replaced hand-colored methods as the dominant production technique. This shift contributed significantly to the eventual liquidation of the business in 1907.
In 1907, the firm was liquidated after decades of operation. Most lithographic stones had their images removed before being sold by weight. Some stones found final rest as landfill material within Central Park. A few intact stones survived including large folio Clipper Ships and small folio Dark Town Comics. Medium folio Abraham Lincoln prints and small folio Washington As A Mason also remained preserved. Today original Currier and Ives prints command high prices among collectors. In 2019, a print titled Across the Continent by Fanny Palmer sold at auction for over sixty thousand US dollars. Winter scenes remain especially popular for American Christmas cards. Modern reproductions continue serving as popular home decorations despite the decline in original demand.
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Common questions
When did Nathaniel Currier die and who took over the business?
Nathaniel Currier died in 1888 leaving James Merritt Ives to run the business until his own death in 1895. Both men's sons continued operations before liquidation occurred in 1907.
What was the price range for small and large Currier and Ives prints?
Small works sold between five and twenty cents while large ones cost one to three dollars. The company distributed through pushcart vendors, peddlers, bookstores, mail orders, and international agents.
How many different lithographs did Currier and Ives publish during their operation?
Over seventy-two years the firm published at least 7,500 different lithographs. Artists created two to three new images weekly for sixty-four years between 1834 and 1895.
Why were Darktown Comics considered controversial by modern standards?
More than half of approximately 500 comic prints produced were known as Darktown Comics depicting African Americans in demeaning ways intended to mock them for white audiences. They represent one of the most controversial aspects of the company's extensive output.
Where did Currier and Ives operate their printing presses and colorists from 1866 onward?
From 1866 onward they occupied three floors at 33 Spruce Street in New York with presses below artists above and colorists highest. Their London office managed international distribution through European agents.