Welcome to an exploration of my latest interdisciplinary research paper, “Wilding Wall Street: The Emergence of Bear Markets in Gilded Age Imagery and Metaphor.” In this blog post, I am excited to share the full version of my research, which has been lightly modified from the original version. This paper delves into one important aspect of bear markets: how did bears become entrenched in Wall Street’s metaphorical landscape?
Why I Explore Bear Markets in Finance
The term “bear market” is frequently used in finance and investing, but what does “bear” really signify? Typically, bears are feared in finance due to their association with falling asset prices. However, bears also symbolize healing, renewal, and rebirth in many cultures worldwide. Bears hibernate in winter and reemerge in the spring, symbolizing the cycle of seasons. Bear markets, like death and taxes, are unavoidable aspects of financial life. Even those who profit during bear markets eventually face their own downturns or forced “hibernation”. I have my own thoughts of how we ought to negotiate “the bear”, but I’ll save this for a future blog post.
Please join me as we uncover the historical and cultural roots of bear markets in finance.
Wilding Wall Street: The Emergence of Bear Markets in Gilded Age Imagery and Metaphor
Within the Wall Street lexicon, the terms bear and bull markets are used to signify tumult and change in the financial landscape. Following the financial Panic of 1873, the artistic responses to market turmoil significantly influenced how the New York Stock Exchange was both perceived and depicted. This paper explores the changes in visual art representations of market declines in the late 19th century. It advocates recognizing and understanding bear markets as complex cultural constructs influenced by social, artistic, and historical currents, and not simply as quantitative financial market indicators.
In this paper, I investigate the theriomorphic transformation of the New York Stock Exchange in the visual arts during the late 19th century through visual art renderings of the following three Wall Street market crises: the Panic of 1857 as captured by James Cafferty in Wall Street, Half Past Two; the Panic of 1869 as depicted by Thomas Nast in What a fall was there, my countrymen!; and the Panic of 1873 as seen through the lens of William Holbrook Beard’s The Bulls and Bears in the Market. This exploration demonstrates the evolution of late 19th-century market crises depictions and the ascendent bear motif within the narrative of contemporary financial market commentaries. Integrating artistic evaluations, such as this study, may significantly complement financial historians’ research into statistical and etymological narratives regarding financial panics.
Shaping the bear in modern finance
In modern day financial markets, the term “bear” is linked to market pessimism and a decline in asset prices. Investopedia, a widely referenced guide to investment terminology, defines bear markets as periods in which financial markets experience prolonged price declines, typically by 20% or more. These periods are often accompanied by widespread investor pessimism, the extensive liquidation of securities and other assets, and a weakening economy (Chen). Financial historian Russell Napier highlights the profound apprehension that bear markets provoke among investors, given their potential to drastically affect portfolios and lead to substantial financial losses (1). The “bear” not only embodies the technical aspects of falling prices but also the broader economic sentiment and investor behavior that contribute to these challenging financial periods.
Bear markets are deeply ingrained in the modern-day lexicon and imagery of Wall Street and global financial markets. A MarketWatch article headline from February 2024 asserts the following: “Former hedge-fund star says this is what will trigger the next bear market”; and from November 2023 Barron’s, “Stocks Are Surging. Is the Next Bear Market Just Around the Corner?” A November 2023 Wall Street Journal headline asks, “Can U.S. Stock Dodge a Bear Market Next Year? Goldman Sachs Thinks So”.
Beyond attention-grabbing headlines, bears frequently appear in visual elements of financial journalism and literature. For example, the September 1974 Newsweek cover featured “The Big Bad Bear” wreaking havoc on Wall Street. The March 2002 Time magazine cover depicted a bear in business attire, accompanied by the headline “Looking Beyond the Bear”. Similarly, the August 2015 Bloomberg Businessweek cover displayed 37 bears. These visual representations play a significant and lasting role in shaping the conceptualization of market declines in modern finance.
Etymological roots of the bear in bear market
Despite the widespread textual and visual use of bear markets in contemporary visual textual vernacular, the historical origins of this term remain contested. Dhruti Shah and Dominic Baily posit that the term “bear” entered financial markets during the seventeenth century in London, correlating with the popularity of bear baiting (14). Anatoly Liberman connects “bears” in finance to 19th century “bearskin jobbers” or merchants who speculated by selling bear skins before the bears were hunted (56). Modern market commentator Arthur “Art” Cashin Jr. suggests that the terms “bull” and “bear” came into use during the mid-19th century Crimean War, representing the British and the Russians respectively (Museum of American Finance).
These varying etymological and historical associations with bears in finance are complicated by the relatively recent 2013 translation of a guidebook to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange penned by Josef de la Vega in 1688. In Confusion de Confusiones, de la Vega classifies traders as either bulls, who drive up prices, or bears, who profit from their fall. He explicitly states that bears “bring about a sudden fall in the price in order to cause the shares to be sold below the purchase-price” (6). De la Vega’s 1688 writing perhaps provides the clearest early reference compared to the theories of Shah and Baily, Lieberman, and market commentator Cashin.
Resolving etymological inconsistencies regarding the origins and connotations of the “bear” in contemporary finance is a formidable challenge. However, broadening the scope of historical investigation to include artistic representations of the portrayal of bears within U.S. equity markets will provide a more nuanced perspective on the term’s integration into the lexicon of modern-day finance. Examination of visual arts metamorphosis offers a unique vantage point to observe the sentiment of financial panics (bear markets) within public consciousness.
Post-Civil War wilding of Wall Street in visual arts
Following the Civil War, the burgeoning newspaper and magazine industry provided a dynamic platform for artists to engage in societal critique through their artwork (Greenhill 4). During this time, artistic renderings vividly captured the intense emotions and dramatic scenes of the financial panics (Adler). Amid economic and technological advancements, such as the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, and the stock ticker in 1867 (Geisst 58), limited liability stock companies expanded capital markets and broadened the pool of potential investors (Gildea 150). Wall Street emerged as the epicenter of modern-day economy.
During this time, when innovations solidified Wall Street’s role as the hub of a rapidly growing and increasingly vibrant American economy, Charles Darwin introduced groundbreaking concepts that revolutionized the views of natural sciences and the relationship between man and animal. Darwin’s notion of evolution suggested that life is dynamic and capable of evolving into new species, thus challenging the age-old Platonic ideals of immutable essences (Dennett 38). In The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin states, “we can understand how it has come to pass that man and all other vertebrate animals have been constructed on the same general model… Consequently, we ought to admit their community of descent” (18).
Darwin’s theories reshaped perceptions of human origins and our interconnectedness with the natural world (Manthorne 13), and catalyzed a shift in artistic expression both in Europe and America. This new approach saw animal figures in paintings expressing human emotions, as seen in the gleeful iconic bears of William Holbrook Beard (1825-1900).
| Dancing Bears (1865) – William Holbrook Beard – WikiArt.org. | The Bear Dance, c.1870 – William Holbrook Beard – WikiArt.org |
Artists accentuated the competitive nature of existence and the relentless struggle for survival in depictions of anthropomorphized animals (Donald 89). George Bouverie Goddard (1832-1886) vividly captured this theme in his painting, The Struggle for Existence (1879), which portrays ferocious wolves battling in a snow-covered landscape, symbolizing the harsh realities of nature. This thematic also extended to depictions of human beings, who were increasingly portrayed as engaged in dynamic, evolutionary struggles akin to those of animals in the wild, illustrating the pervasive influence of Darwinian thought on artistic expression throughout the late 19th century (Donald 21).
The Struggle for Existence (1879) by George Bouverie Goddard – WikiArt.org
Mammoth Hunters (ca. 1869-71) by Ernest Griset. Flicker.com, Bromley Museum.
Visual arts and market upheaval in 1857
Darwin’s influence on the artistic portrayal of Wall Street took time to manifest. His most significant works were not yet published during the Panic of 1857, a financial crisis that rapidly swept through the nation and beyond (Fulfer). The Panic of reached its climax when the highly regarded Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company collapsed due to embezzlement and fraud at its New York branch. This shock undermined public trust in banks and investment firms and precipitated widespread bank runs and the collapse of financially weak entities, including the Lackawanna and Western Railroad (Calomiris and Schweikart 811).
James H. Cafferty and Charles G. Rosenberg. WALL STREET, HALF PAST TWO O’CLOCK, OCTOBER 13,1857.
James Cafferty (1819-1869) vividly captures the upheaval at the Ohio Life & Trust Company in his celebrated painting, Wall Street, Half Past Two (1857). In the painting, crowds are gathering outside the New York Stock Exchange. Art historian Sara Burns notes how Cafferty depicts the market turmoil: the bankers are shown in top hats, “soberly dressed” and maintaining “grave decorum and self-restraint” (11). There is but one subtle hint of chaos tucked away in the lower right-hand corner: a slender dog dashes past the crowd. Animals are relegated to the margins of the scene, those that are visible exhibit a more frantic pace than the Victorian gentlemen illustrated in the center of the painting.
Animals enter Wall Street: “Black Friday” and the Panic of 1869
The Panic of 1869 presents a notable shift in visual representations of Wall Street. The 1869 crisis was attributed to the maneuverings of Jay Gould and James Fisk, notorious speculators who attempted to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange (On This Day: October 16, 1869). The scheme involved an elaborate plan to hoard gold, driving up the price, while at the same time, utilizing political connections to prevent the U.S. Treasury from releasing gold into the economy. On September 24, 1869, the day now referred to as “Black Friday”, the government unexpectedly intervened by selling a substantial amount of gold. This government countermove broke the corner on the market. Panic ensued and prices plummeted, devastating many speculators on Wall Street (Morgan and Narron).
The events of 1869 provided inspiration for political cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902). In his October 1869 Harper’s Weekly illustration, What a fall was there, my countrymen! Nast captures the aftermath of the market crash with dead bulls and bears piled atop one another. The image, dominated by the sign “This Street is Closed for Repairs,” poignantly symbolizes the market’s vulnerability and the chaotic aftermath of unbridled speculation and corruption. Animals are now central figures, overtaking the entire scene.
Theriomorphic transformation of Wall Street in the tumultuous 1870s
The 1870s marked a critical juncture in the artistic depiction of Wall Street. The backdrop to this transformation was the abrupt end of post-war economic expansion triggered by the bankruptcy of Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke. Cooke overextended his firm to finance a 471-mile stretch of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and by the winter of 1873, he ran out of external funding. This led to the bankruptcy of Jay Cooke and Co. on September 18, 1873, which triggered widespread panic on Wall Street (Paxon 397). The ensuing economic turmoil resulted in factory shutdowns and skyrocketing unemployment rates, onsetting a grim era that Samuel Gompers described as akin to a “primeval upheaval” (Reynolds 450). Sara Burns notes that market fluctuations at the time led to a heightened sense of anxiety. The city transformed into a metaphorical wild space where “the urban menagerie came to figure as a metaphor for the idea of an ill-contained wilderness in the very heart of civilized space…it was, however, in the New York Stock Exchange, the nerve center of financial life, that the metaphor of the menagerie provoked the greatest anxiety” (18-19).
The Bulls and Bears in the Market (1879) by William Holbrook Beard. New York Historical Society
In his 1879 painting Bulls and Bears in Wall Street, William Holbrook Beard brilliantly captures a dramatic portrayal of the New York Stock Exchange. Depicting the chaos of the 1873 stock market crash, Beard uses the imagery of bears and bulls to symbolize the wild and savage nature of the financial markets playfully yet pointedly, aiming “to spoof the bestial energies of the financial world” (Collection Highlights | New-York Historical Society). In this artwork, the animal figures represent the ferocity and unpredictability that typify periods of financial upheaval. This artistic method does more than depict the harsh realities of the market crash; it resonates with Beard’s conviction of the power of art to both reflect and critique societal issues (Manthorne 13-14). Through this depiction, Beard suggests that Wall Street had transformed into a space where the boundaries between humanity and animality were obscured, blending the realms of the civilized and the primal.
Victorian market panics evolve into modern bear markets
The artistic portrayal of Wall Street underwent a significant transformation in the decades following the Civil War. James Cafferty’s 1857 painting, Wall Street, Half Past Two, presents the New York Stock Exchange populated by well-dressed Victorian gentlemen in top hats, with a solitary dog dashing past the crowd. The traders are observers of the market chaos, akin to onlookers at a distant disaster. Thomas Nast’s 1869 piece, What a fall was there, my countrymen! features animal carcasses scattered throughout the scene, signaling a deep disruption within the stronghold of modern finance, underscored by the signage “This street is closed for repairs.” Here, bears and bulls are not just market symbols but entities that have succumbed to market chaos. Advancing to the severe panic and recession of 1873, William Holbrook Beard’s The Bulls and Bears in the Market captures the final phase of bear metamorphosis into the textual visual lexicon. This painting suggests that the once external forces of destruction depicted by Nast have integrated with the traders themselves—the distinction between humans and animals has diminished, erasing the classical early-Victorian divide between the civilized world of commerce and the wild, untamed wilderness. Beard’s artistic shift blurs the lines between civilization and savagery in an irreversible transformation.
Life Magazine, June 5, 1970 – Bear Stock Market. Oldlifemagazine.com
Conclusion
The financial upheavals of the 1870s, coupled with the influence of visual arts, created a cultural context for the integration of the bear symbol into the visual and textual lexicon of contemporary finance. The “bear” in bear market, metamorphosed over time as exemplified by the contrast of James Cafferty’s Victorian gentlemen in 1857 to William Holbrook Beard’s anthropomorphized bears in 1879. Incorporating an examination of bear markets through the lens of visual arts, particularly regarding bear iconography, offers perspective that is complimentary to the purely quantitative definition that historians and professionals tend to use when analyzing bear markets. Artistic representations from periods of economic distress, reflect human emotion, cultural attitudes, and societal impacts of financial crises. These are elements that mere percentages fail to reveal. By integrating artistic analysis into their methodology, researchers can achieve a more comprehensive understanding of how financial crises have been perceived and experienced, thus enriching historical research into financial bear markets.
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