The Carpet-Bag, Vol. II, No. 28

The Carpet-Bag, Vol. II, No. 28 (1852)

The masthead features an ornate carpetbag held aloft by a gloved hand, flanked by two oval vignettes of domestic scenes. Below sit two woodcut illustrations captioned "Omnibus Scene—No. 1" and "Omnibus Scene—No. 2," depicting crowded urban encounters rendered in the sharp, economical line-work typical of mid-century comic periodicals.

The Carpet-Bag (1851–1853) was Boston's premier weekly of literary humor, edited by Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber. The paper published burlesque, tall tales, light verse, and character sketches alongside woodcut cartoons, establishing itself as a venue for witty social observation and verbal comedy. It served as an early national platform for emerging humorists—including Mark Twain's first major publication and work by Artemus Ward—and helped define the American comic tradition between the genteel essay and mass-market humor.