Lifting the Mortgage by Pendleton's Lithography

Pendleton's Lithography · ca 1830

This black and white print depicts a man seated at a table, with a dog at his feet. The man in the center of the print is signing a temperance pledge to give up “Strong Drink” with "total abstinence." A well-dressed man, perhaps the holder of the mortgage, looks on. A woman, young daughter and baby are in the background looking relieved as the home appears to be deteriorating. A man in rags, probably the farmer’s drinking partner, is carrying a bottle and seen departing. The companion print, <i>Mortgaging the Farm</i>, depicts the farmer trading a mortgage on his farm for alchol. (DL.60.2982)