Between performances
Subject(s): Actors, Christmas, Christmas trees, Dinners and dining, Performances, Uncle Tom (Fictitious character)
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On a stage with a large table, many actors and actresses are engaged in various activities. On the far left is a Christmas tree with decorations based on the characters from the Harriet Beecher Stowe novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin: an angel labeled “Haley,” a playing card spade labeled “Marks,” a black doll labeled “Simon Legree,” a champagne bottle labeled “Mrs. Ophelia,” a bottle of “face powder” labeled “Topsey,” a dog labeled “Eliza,” and a whip labeled “Uncle Tom.” On the floor next to the tree is a jug labeled “Eagle Hotel Main Street.” The rest of the scene is comprised of blacks and whites playing dice games, drinking, and one woman feeding four dogs. An angel can be seen in the background. Caption: The Uncle Tommers’ Christmas dinner on the road.
Comments and Context
This is a remarkable drawing, one that comes to us through the years speaking in way unconsciously and unintended. As a Christmas / seasonal cartoon, not designed for commentary or political statements, cartoonist L. M. Glackens has conjured a fantasy — what do road actors of those innumerable theatrical troupes that criss-crossed America, do on their rare nights off, for instance at Christmastime?
Shenanigans, indulging, playing, gambling, all the forbidden but innocent pleasures are suggested by Glackens.
However, the repertory company of Uncle Tom’s Cabin — among the most popular of those stock companies’ plays — would naturally have casts of mixed races. Glackens depicts blacks and whites fraternizing in natural ways that people of the twenty-first century might find surprising. So in a sense this Puck cartoon is a bit like paintings or prints of a Brueghel or Hogarth — a genre scene picturing average people in their average pursuits.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-12-04
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:
Between performances. [December 4, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285928. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. Between performances. [4 Dec. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285928.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1907, December 4]. Between performances.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285928.
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.
