AAW Stock No. 126 "Playing Horse"

General
Thematically, “Playing Horse” fits with No. 125 in being a tender and sentimental scene of American Life and also carries a 1912 copyright. It is the only mother/child design from Meek/American Art Works, although the stock designs of other manufacturers (most notably Kaufmann & Strauss) feature scenes with mothers and children.   Interestingly, this design was slightly more popular with brewers than “The Fish Story”, including the Reedsburg Brewery that also used “The Fish Story.” However, this design shows up most frequently as a stock sample (some of which may actually have advertising on the back) and were probably used in smaller retail establishments and businesses that catered more to a female clientele.

We have been unable to find any definitive usage of “playing horse” as an express, other than the playground basketball game, which certainly isn’t what is being portrayed here. We believe it may be referring to “horse play” which is used to describe rambunctious fooling around, although that usually refers to interaction between children.   References to this usage date back to the early 16th century. The other possibility is what today we might refer to as “playing horsey” where the child rides on the adult’s back like a jockey on a horse. It is perhaps a reflection of a growing middle-class and affluence. Before the turn of the 20th century, most American children had work to do in the home—and so did their parents. But even as leisure time opened up for middle-class Americans, the expectation that a parent participate in play didn’t immediately follow. In the 1920s, parenting experts actually told mothers (then the principal target of parenting advice) to stay away from their kids’ amusements. Ann Hulbert, in her history of child-rearing advice, calls this school of thought the “anti-maternalist style,” which was predicated on a belief that “frostiness signaled efficiency.”

There is no artist signature for this design, but it reveals a softer approach than previous designs and may indicate the possibility that it was painted by a woman. Although unusual, there is precedence for this with two previous designs (No. 101, Sunshine and No. 103, Introduction) by Alice Hirschberg. The impression is more a fulsome and contemporary scene than the alluring beauties depicted in previous designs. Sahling has entry in his workbook for “Playing Horse, No. 126” in May 1912 immediately following “The Fish Story.”

Size & Shape and Adverting Placement
Every example we’ve seen of this design is a small oblong (11x14) in the more common portrait orientation.    Rims are black with gold advertising text, and we have not seen any with advertising appearing on the face.

Hager & Price
Hager does not discuss this design but does include it in his introduction date table, although he has it as 1911 while versions, we’ve seen carry a 1912 copyright date. He does include it in his catalog. Similar to “The Fish Story” prices rarely make it into the triple figures, although to be fair most examples are stock samples. The Reedsburg Brewery example only drew two figures, although it was well below average grade. There was a somewhat better than average example from Mishicott Brewing of Wisconsin that realized almost $1,500.