This black and white print depicts a man seated at a table, with a dog at his feet. The man in the center of the print is signing a temperance pledge to give up “Strong Drink” with "total abstinence." A well-dressed man, perhaps the holder of the mortgage, looks on. A woman, young daughter and baby are in the background looking relieved as the home appears to be deteriorating. A man in rags, probably the farmer’s drinking partner, is carrying a bottle and seen departing. The companion print, <i>Mortgaging the Farm</i>, depicts the farmer trading a mortgage on his farm for alchol. (DL.60.2982)
This print was produced by Pendleton's Lithography. John B. Pendleton (1798-1866) was one of America's earliest lithographers. Along with his brother William Pendleton (1795-1879), he started a lithograph printing house in Boston in 1825. The firm printed portraits, landscapes, sheet music covers, and other illustrations. Not long after it opened in Boston, the Pendleton brothers moved their lithograph business to New York City. In 1829 or 1830, John B. Pendleton moved to Philadelphia and briefly operated the firm Pendleton, Kearny, & Childs with Francis Kearny (1785-1837) and Cephas G. Childs (1793-1888). Pendleton then worked as a carpenter and proprietor of a planning mill until 1851.
