1-150-514 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Beef à La Mode', 1867. A plump and prosperous Mr and Mrs Brisket reject utterly the idea that they might reduce the price of beef. In their view, this would so reduce their income that they might not be able to afford to maintain their carriage, and then they would have to walk to church like everyone else. There is an edge to this cartoon. Those continuing to profiteer from the crisis continued to go to church in what should, presumably, have been a humble and generous spirit. The price of beef had remained very high since, some two years earlier, there had been an outbreak of Cattle Plague, or Rinderpest. It had started in the dairies of Lambeth and Islington and had spread rapidly despite all measures for containment. By the end of 1865, more than 50,000 head of cattle had been slaughtered. From Punch, or the London Charivari, November 2, 1867.