It might help some if Wall Street gave trading stamps
Subject(s): Book coupons, Crowds, Financial crises, New York (State)--New York--Wall Street, Stock exchanges
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A throng of people on Wall Street rush to purchase stocks from trading houses that offer various amounts of green or pink trading stamps.
Comments and Context
One month after the initial Panic on Wall Street — and a delay of commentary likely due to the fluid situation, complicated responses, and somewhat obscured machinations of government and trust managers — Puck finally comments on the financial crisis, and it is more humorous than incisive.
L. M. Glackens plays upon the contemporary mania for trading stamps. Manufacturers and retailers devised systems of stamps that were issued with each retail sale according to the value of the receipt. These would be saved in books and then redeemed for products. It was a short-lived scheme, perhaps due to its encumbrances, but the concept was revived in a flurry during the 1950s.
Puck‘s initial comment on the Wall Street Panic, then, was a sarcastic suggestion to issue trading stamps to spur sales of stock shares. The public was war, as banks failed and large businesses failed. However, at the foot of Trinity Church, in the heart of Wall Street, Glackens depicted the interested parties as middle-class folks and farmers. In reality it was the president and his cabinet, and several financial titans led by J. P. Morgan, who were moving and shaking; proposing and deciding means to salvage the economy and avoid a depression. This they did.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-11-06
Creator(s)
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
It might help some if Wall Street gave trading stamps. [November 6, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285918. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. It might help some if Wall Street gave trading stamps. [6 Nov. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285918.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1907, November 6]. It might help some if Wall Street gave trading stamps.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285918.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
