Thanksgiving Day, 1860 - The Two Great Classes of Society

Thanksgiving Day, 1860 - The Two Great Classes of Society by Winslow Homer is a significant wood engraving dating from 1860, a pivotal year in the history of the United States. Created immediately preceding the Civil War, this illustration offers a poignant social commentary contrasting the extremes of wealth and poverty often overlooked during the national holiday. This early work demonstrates Homer’s emerging skill as an illustrator before he transitioned primarily to painting later in his career. The medium itself, a wood engraving, reflects the primary form of mass communication and illustration in American periodicals of the mid-nineteenth century.

The piece, likely commissioned for a widely circulated magazine, uses the stark contrast afforded by the black and white print medium to highlight the visual difference implied in its subtitle. Homer depicts the affluent elite enjoying a lavish feast indoors, contrasted sharply with the impoverished individuals struggling outside their window, cold and hungry. Homer effectively captures the era's deep social stratification, using the unifying national theme of Thanksgiving to underscore division rather than societal unity.

This important example of American graphic art is maintained in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Because of its early date and classification as a print, the work has been widely reproduced. Today, high-quality public domain prints of this pivotal social commentary by Homer ensure its continued accessibility for scholars and the general public alike, documenting a crucial moment in the evolving American experience.