This sketch came to the society mounted in an album of sketches and engravings by Thomas S. Cummings and various other nineteenth-century American artists.

The drawing was the basis for an illustration that appeared in "St. Nicholas" magazine, August 1886 (p. 761). The date, "1886," appears below the artist's signature in the reproduction, but is covered with white ink in the original.

This drawing was the basis for an illustration that appeared in "St. Nicholas" magazine, August 1886 (p. 760).

Mann, a native of Germany, won the Nobel Prize in 1929 for his novel "Buddenbrooks," a story of the moral and financial decline of the merchant bourgeoisie. "The Magic Mountain" and "Death in Venice" are the best-known of his many novels and essays.

This drawing was the basis for an illustration that appeared in "St. Nicholas" magazine, July 1886 (p. 669).

Burns and Allen became a comedy team in 1923. Burns made his mark on American comedy with his wry, acerbic humor, while Allen perfected her "dizzy" persona, playing the "straight man" opposite her husband. They appeared together in vaudeville and on radio and television.

The 31st president of the United States, Hoover was elected in 1928, just months before the stock market crash. Because his economic policies were not enough to combat the onslaught of the Depression he became the scapegoat for the country's financial woes. Although he failed to be re-elected in 1932, he served on several government commissions during the Truman and Eisenhower presidencies.