[Americana] [Gold Rush] "The Good Time's Come At Last" or California Races Dedicated to the Master of the Mint by one from the Gold Country Shewing the Way to, and the Way back, from the Golden Regions

No place, ca. 1849. Cotton handkerchief, printed in red, 15 x 20 in. (381 x 508 mm). Hemmed edges at top and bottom; scattered light spotting; small hole at left edge.

A rare satirical handkerchief depicting the California Gold Rush. Titled after a popular contemporary comic song written on the Gold Rush, this handkerchief depicts the gold fever that gripped the nation, showing people of all stripes, such as top-hatted capitalists and gold-seeking "forty-niners", digging, panning, and hauling gold. Bordered with vignette scenes showing crowds clamoring to travel to the Gold Mines, by foot, by sea, and by train, scenes of figures carrying mining tools such as picks, shovels, and bundles, and more violent altercations between gold rushers and Native Americans.

We can locate only one other example of this handkerchief on RBH, from 2008. That example was printed in brown.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.