MHHM is recognized as having the largest collection of original Thomas Nast (1840-1902) artwork in the world. Thomas Nast, a 19th-century artist and illustrator, is considered to be the father of the modern political cartoon. Due to the efforts of museum founder, W. Parsons Todd (1877-1976), historians and scholars can study this collection for research purposes and the public can view original Nast artwork on exhibit.
Mr. Todd and Thomas Nast’s son Cyril became friends when they were teenagers. During the 1950s and 1960s, W. Parsons Todd purchased Nast artwork from Cyril Nast, including proofs, sketches, and original pages from Harper’s Weekly. Thank you, Mr. Todd for helping to collect and preserve the past for the future!
Join us today at noon for Story Time: Guess & Go on our Facebook page. See some of the artwork in the Thomas Nast collection and hear stories about collecting. Kids are invited to email a picture of their collections, to be shared during Storytime: Guess & Go this fall as Macculloch Hall Historical Museum explores What Do Kids Collect?
Resources:
- Take a look at the some of the pieces at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California, which has over 7,000 original pieces in their permanent collection and explore the museum’s resource page for more information.
- Read an interview with Bob Bretall, who made it into the Guiness Book of World Records in 2015 with the world’s largest collection of comic books, which he started to collect when he was 8 years old.
- Learn more about comic book collecting.
Topic: What Do You Collect?
Age / Level: Primary, Elementary