The Carpet-Bag, Vol. II, No. 37

The Carpet-Bag, Vol. II, No. 37 (1852)

The masthead features an ornate cartouche framing the title in bold type, topped by a gloved hand holding what appears to be a carpet bag itself. Two woodcut vignettes flank the nameplate, depicting domestic interior scenes. This Boston weekly combined literary sketches, tall tales, light verse, and comic woodcuts into a humor periodical that appealed to educated readers seeking entertainment beyond sensational fare. Under editor Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber, The Carpet-Bag published early work by Mark Twain and Artemus Ward, establishing itself as a venue for American comic writing and visual satire in the antebellum period.