Great portrait of Abraham Lincoln, 1860

He still looks young and vaguely handsome in this print, published by New York's Currier and Ives in May 1860.  With sensitive eyes dominating the placid, sad face, Lincoln looks every bit the affluent, successful lawyer, representing Chicago railroads and corporations as well as small-town neighbors and friends around his home in downstate Springfield, Illinois.

Ice Skating in Central Park, late 1850s.

For the New Year, I give you ice skating in Central Park, an undated, six-penny lithograph print from Currier & Ives, New York City, circa late 1850s.  Click on the image for full size.  It shows a beautiful crisp day, friends sharing good health and good spirits, enjoying an escape from the teeming city.  (More than 800,000 people lived on the southern tip of Manhattan Island at this time, making it one of the most densely populated spots on earth.)  Enjoy.