The fullest dinner pail (1908)
Technique: Giclée quality print
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Udo Keppler's 1908 painting, "The fullest dinner pail," offers a striking visual commentary on economic policies and their impacts on the working class. The piece portrays a laborer, burdened by the immense weight of a giant dinner pail labeled "Tariff for Craft Only." This oversized metal container dwarfs the worker, who struggles to carry not just its physical weight but also the metaphorical burden it represents.Keppler’s use of vivid color and meticulous detail accentuates the struggle faced by the worker against the industrial backdrop. The phrase on the pail, "Tariff for Craft Only," alludes to the protective trade policies that were often discussed during this period. These policies aimed to shield domestic industries from foreign competition but sometimes had unintended consequences for workers.The dinner pail, typically a symbol of the working man’s sustenance, is ironically portrayed as empty and oversized, suggesting that the policies designed to protect might instead be hindering the very individuals they were meant to help.
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Udo J. Keppler, since 1894. known as Joseph Keppler, Jr., was an American political cartoonist, publisher, and Native American advocate. The son of cartoonist Joseph Keppler (1838–1894), who founded Puck magazine, the younger Keppler also contributed to cartoons, and after his father's death became co-owner of the magazine under the name Joseph Keppler. He was also a collector of Native American artifacts.