The term 'Currier and Ives' refers to the 19th century American printmaking firm of Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives. The firm was known for its popular lithographs, which depicted scenes of everyday life in America. The job of an ENGRAVER was to create the printing plates used to produce the lithographs. Engravers would use a variety of tools to carve the image into the printing plate, which would then be used to transfer the image onto paper.