Afflicted with the Jim-Jams

A street-car passenger tries to befuddle the ticket collector with nonsensical conversation. Miller's caption reads:

Conductor?, Do you let Spiders come in here with their great coats on?-Is the ear of a canary bird waterproof, & would it do to make shoes?

Alfred Jacob Miller was a prolific sketcher. He filled many journals with drawings and captions from the time he was studying in Paris and Rome (1833) until the 1870's. The varied interests of Miller are clearly reflected in these sketches: rural sites, studies after Old Master paintings, illustrations of literature, and comical scenes and characters.

This sketch comes from the family album of L. Vernon Miller, which contains works that have passed down through the Miller family directly from the artist.