Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.335
Object Name
Poster
Title
The Blind Leading the Blind
Date
1906
Description
Free Trade poster, around 1906
The poster shows two top-hatted men standing on a cliff edge, both in blindfolds. The cliff is labelled "Free Trade" and in the background a city, called "Liberal Party" can be seen beneath a rising sun and the words "Peace Contentment Prosperity". The first man, wearing a blindfold saying "fiscal cocksureness" pulls the second by his nose. The second man is wearing a blindfold on which is written "philosophic doubt" and his top hat marks him out as a member of the Unionist Party. Beneath the two men is the phrase "The Blind Leading the Blind".
The two men are clearly about to walk off the cliff - where the word "protection" is written. The message is clear - the blind are leading the blind off the cliff edge into protectionism, and away from free trade which offers prosperity. Below the cliff are labelled scenes "Starvation", "Bread Riots" and "Rick Burning". Rick burning was a form of rioting, where rural labourers would burn threshing machines (which removed their winter employment) used in the 1830s Swing riots.
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