American Art Collaborative

A rural couple listens skeptically to a representative of the Building Association, identified by the paper in his coat pocket. The salesman—whose top hat, pointed shoes, and umbrella mark him as a city slicker—promises the couple a better life as he unrolls a listing of "1000 Valuable Lots on Rail Road Ave." Francis William Edmonds's comic genre scenes captured the rough-and-tumble of America's frontiers. Democracy meant opportunity for all, and there were plenty of opportunities to fleece the unwary in settlements governed by few laws. Land speculators flourished as the railroads raced West and small towns dreamed of growing into great cities.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
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