Better Than None

Excerpted from Civil War in Pictures by Fletcher Pratt, ©1955:

Our soldiers believe in the literal interpretation of the dictum of the Wise Man that “there is a time to dance.”  But to put their faith into works is not the easiest thing in the world, owing to the lack of partners of the feminine persuasion.  However, by imagining a bearded and pantallooned fellow to be of “t’other kind,” they succeed in getting up what they call a “Stag Dance,” which is better than none.

This has been a really interesting little book that I found for $1.29 at a thrift store.  There was no way to reproduce a photograph in a newspaper at the time, so newspapers sent out sketch correspondents and reduced their drawings to woodcuts to print them in the paper.  Drawings like these are how most people got to "see" the Civil War unfold.

I'll be posting a few more over the next few weeks.