Bidspirit auction | Stump Speaker - Cast Iron

Stump Speaker - Cast Iron Mechanical Bank - Scarce Version with Brown Face. By the Shepard Hardware Company. Buffalo, New York - Circa 1886. The Stump Speaker presents us with an image of a black man dressed in the garish colorful clothes of a dandy. This caricature relates him to the carpetbagger phenomenon that arose in the South in the years following the Civil War. Carpetbaggers were opportunistic northern businessmen who prayed upon southern landowners, buying their plantations for a mere pittance. He's a smooth talker as evidenced by his moving wobbling jaw. Condition: Near Mint Condition.