Born in 1844 to a family of abolitionist Quaker farmers, Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, nicknamed “Cash” by his friends and family, became an instantly recognized commercial artist with the series of Dogs Playing Poker he gave to the world. He is named after one of the most eloquent of orators against slavery, nicknamed “The Lion Of White Hall” as an anthropomorphic tribute to the township in which he lived. Mr. Coolidge (Cash) had no professional training in the arts whatsoever. Nonetheless, he was a very active artist, publishing drawings in papers before his twentieth birthday.
In 1903 he was commissioned a series of paintings on his favorite theme: mastiffs and Saint Bernards engaged in human activity. On nine of the sixteen paintings well bred and mannered dogs drink beer and whiskey, smoke cigars and pipes, and play five-card draw poker. Furry and in fur coats or flannel suits, they usually fill a cozy room with the only source of light being a shaded lamp above the table.
The players are established bourgeois, and seem to be reasonably well-behaved gentlemen, perhaps not altogether tame, but proper enough. The paintings reflect approximately the same period as that depicted in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. But Coolidge does not focus on the greed and violence of illegal underground clubs; rather, he shows poker finally emerge from the criminal murk into a more homely reality where decent members of society probably never bet more than a few symbolic cents and allowed themselves a few drops of bourbon when their wives weren’t looking. Poker was becoming common entertainment for most American men, not a means to make quick and dangerous money.
Well-respected gentlemen around 1875 were attending large evening poker games. A monthly rag called “Poker Chips” was one of the publications devoting itself to the game and most others published poker-related articles. As the century ended, rules became codified for draw-poker for the first time and were in force in all of the poker clubs. Some reporters went so far as to claim that baseball was no longer the national past time.
Gradually, unrelated to any criminal associations, the ability to play poker and the ability to wield a gun became the staple talents of any real man. Men who played good poker were usually likewise good soldiers, good sheriffs, and good politicians. In the spring of 1918, in Europe, the game was the most popular mode of entertainment among Harry Truman and his two million troops. Truman perfected his draw and stud poker as an artillery officer. When the peace treaty was signed, waiting to be shipped home, he and his combat friends spent the time at endless games of poker which they continued even after arrival home.
The ability to bet big and smart, bluff, and risk profitably was seen as identical in essence to the ability to survive in battle, survive on dangerous jobs in law enforcement, or do any job which required brains and brawn.
Coolidge had ample opportunity to observe the types, the clothes, the cards, and the basement clubs where games were regularly held. Adding a vivid touch of anthropomorphic humor, he created memorable representations of the middle class enjoying a game by then at least 200 years old.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at PKR Poker and Rakeback at Victory Poker.
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