Information & history on rear of piece:
During the unsophisticated days before camera and movies,  Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt succeeded in recording the growth of America in colored lithographs.   Currier and Ives captured the sentimentality,  prejudice and daily life of people,  including rural America,  which is preserved in their American Homestead Series.   Later generations added decorative dormer windows and porches onto houses,  as illustrated in "Spring,"  created in 1869.   In restoring these homes,  owners would tear off the obtrusive appendage and reveal the dignified and conservative lines of American homesteads.

Information & history on rear of piece:
Currier and Ives prints reflect the common themes which contemporary artists and writers employed and to which the public enthusiastically responded.   This scene is a detail of the "Autumn"  Homestead print.   Lush fields,  rolling pastures and fruitful orchards,  which were the owne's chief means of livelihood,  encompassed the American Homestead.   Harvesting was a family event for many.