No image better captures the anxieties of Gilded Age America than Another monopoly by Charles Dana Gibson. When this drawing first appeared in print, it struck a nerve: the public was already wary of the unchecked power of industrial trusts, and Gibson’s sharp pen turned that fear into satire. The title itself is a jab at the era’s endless parade of monopolies—railroads, oil, steel—each one seeming to swallow up more of American life.

Though the exact date and circumstances of the drawing’s creation remain unclear, it is certain that Gibson’s work was widely circulated in magazines such as Life and Harper’s Weekly, where his images shaped public debate. In Another monopoly, Gibson freezes the moment when the forces of big business, personified as corpulent, well-dressed men, close ranks around a table, their hands resting possessively on a game board. The men’s confident postures and self-satisfied expressions leave no doubt about who holds the power. The board itself, reminiscent of a chessboard or the later Monopoly game, is littered with tokens—factories, rail lines, and bags of money—each symbolizing a different sector of the economy under their control.

The light falls harshly on their faces, exposing both their wealth and their complacency. Unlike the biting caricatures of Honoré Daumier, who often targeted politicians, Gibson’s satire is aimed squarely at the new American tycoons. As with many of Gibson’s works, the original drawing’s whereabouts are uncertain; most likely, it was produced for mass publication rather than as a single, precious object. Gibson’s career was defined by such images—his “Gibson Girl” became a national icon, but his social satires like Another monopoly cemented his reputation as a chronicler of his age’s tensions.

Today, reproductions of the drawing circulate in books and online archives, a testament to its enduring relevance. The original may be lost, but its message about power and inequality remains as sharp as when Gibson first set pen to paper.