They used Stovaine on him and Father read the bill without a particle of pain

Image Not Available for They used Stovaine on him and Father read the bill without a particle of pain
They used Stovaine on him and Father read the bill without a particle of pain
Image Not Available for They used Stovaine on him and Father read the bill without a particle of pain

They used Stovaine on him and Father read the bill without a particle of pain

Date1910
Illustration CitationPuck, March 23, 1910
MediumInk on illustration board
Dimensionssheet: 17 3/4 × 26 3/4 in. (45.1 × 67.9 cm)
Credit LineF. V. du Pont Acquisition Fund, 1983
Object number1986-83
On View
Not on view
Label TextSan Francisco native Gordon Grant mastered a wide range of genres, including marine painting, portraiture, and illustration. In this cartoon for the humor magazine Puck, Grant satirizes both the frothy women's hats of the period and a mother-daughter conspiracy required to buy them. Here two women are pleased that they have so sedated the man of the house that he does not challenge their extravagant purchases. Stovaine--often featured in the popular press in 1910-- was an anesthetic that suppressed pain while allowing a person to remain conscious.

Grant lets us know that this is an upper class household, able to afford a Japanese screen and fine furniture. The women are dressed in the latest fashions; the daughter's skirt is finished with fine detailing. The hat boxes are not just utilitarian but decorated with ribbon. The center of attention is a hat, held aloft like a crown. It has come from the "Eloise" milliners, as we can see from the hatbox and the bill held by the almost-dozing man of the house, who wears a silly expression.
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