American Toby Jug Museum 

Pickwick/Micawber relief jug with a silver rim produced by Lancaster and Sandland of Hanley, England, circa 1950. This jug features two of the main characters of "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club", also known as The Pickwick Papers, in Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Micawber. This was the first novel by English author Charles Dickens. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise. On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in The Atlantic writes, "'Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick. It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call 'entertainment'." The Pickwick Papers was published in 19 issues over 20 months, and it popularized serialized fiction and cliffhanger endings. A lamp post forms the handle of the jug. Note the relief scene on the bottom of the jug of a drunkard in stocks being tortured by a large pitcher of beer.