Smoker's Circle, on Boston Common, 1854
"Smoker's Circle, On Boston Common" is a newspaper print from Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, a periodical publication published in Boston between 1851 and 1859. Although the artist of the print was named Fernando Edwards Worcester, the individual behind the publication was a man named Frederick Gleason (Gleason 1851). It was published in 1852. The print portrays an image of men lounging on Boston Common and smoking cigars (Historic New England). They are dressed in fine attire and are accompanied by dogs. The field is densely populated with human figures and trees.
Material Composition
This artifact was originally a print in the weekly newspaper Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion. By the 1850s, periodical newspapers widely circulated after the advent of the penny press in the 1830s and 1840s (Steffen 2003, p. 383). Before the penny press was available, newspapers were only available through expensive subscriptions (Steffen 2003, p. 383). Newspapers had immeasurable public value because they connected civic affairs with the country's constituents (Steffen 2003, p. 391). Improvements in printing and paper-making technologies reduced the cost of producing newspapers and also augmented their circulation (Nord 2001, p. 94). Because of mid-19th-century technological successes, newspapers reached the public more effectively. This aided the industry of journalism while also ensuring information spread extensively. Information became more accessible to those outside of the wealthier classes. Gleason's Pictorial "won instant success" with the Boston community and proved to be profitable (Talbot 1904, p. 331). This newspaper publication was able to reach a wide following and was a financial triumph for those involved with its production. As a result, this print likely reached audiences beyond the city's upper class because it was printed in a weekly periodical after the advent of the penny press.