Crawford, Will, 1869-1944

A small man labeled “Consumer” is badly bruised after running between two rows of Native Americans labeled “Provision Trust, Ice Trust, Fuel Trust, Butter & Egg Trust, Clothing Trust, [and] Copper Trust” who have beaten him with a sack of “Self Rising Flour” and a “Sugar Cured” ham, a coal scuttle, bundle of wood, a “Gas Meter,” ice tongs, eggs, copper coins, and a bolt of cloth with boots, socks, and gloves attached. Caption: And every year he votes as though he liked it.

Comments and Context

“Running the gauntlet,” the practice and etymology of which go back to ancient Greece but became widespread in many world societies in the seventeenth century, provided the starkly visual metaphor for cartoonist Will Crawford in this double-page cartoon. In fact it was a common practice in Sweden, on sailing ships, and as a literary metaphor seemingly before Native American tribes adopted it.

The practice is a punishment traditionally viewed as milder and less dishonorable than flogging or stocks. The accused has to pass through a line of peers on each side who beat him with objects. 

A large broom labeled “Election” sweeps up the trash of campaign slogans, signs, and symbols of William Jennings Bryan and William H. Taft.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Consistent with its virtual neutrality during the 1908 election campaign, the traditionally partisan and ferocious political-cartoon magazine made few comments on the election outcome — the election of William H. Taft to the presidency — positive, negative, or even of a balanced middle view, through the end of the year.

William H. Taft rides on horseback during a tour of the American West where he is making a campaign stop to address a gathering of cowboys, farmers, lumberjacks, and businessmen. Taft’s clothing and the horse’s brand, saddle, and bridle are emblazoned with “TR,” the initials of Theodore Roosevelt, suggesting Roosevelt’s endorsement of Taft in the upcoming presidential election.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Will Crawford, illustrator and cartoonist of Western and Native American subjects invariably depicted sympathetically, became around this a major member of Puck Magazine’s art staff. In this double-page cartoon he calls upon his familiarity with the old and new American West to make a subtle but devastating comment on the inept Republican presidential candidate William H. Taft.

Vignettes depict the presidential candidates for the 1908 election, each learning their fortunes regarding the outcome of the election. Norman Edward Mack as a palm reader tells William Jennings Bryan that his “line of ambition is phenomenally long. Likewise your line of talk. You can’t lose.” Frank H. Hitchcock as a seer gazing into a crystal ball, which shows the face of Theodore Roosevelt, tells William H. Taft that he sees “nothing but success.” Thomas L. Hisgen is reading cards labeled “W. R. Hearst.” Thomas E. Watson sees the word “Cinch” in the stars. Eugene W. Chafin is reading tea leaves. Eugene V. Debs is dropping hot lead into a cauldron showing the White House.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck had grown comfortable with double-page cartoons comprised of vignettes on a theme, and ran them approximately once a month. This cartoon is a rare three-man “jam,” the central drawings by Will Crawford. In keeping with the magazine’s routine depictions, Republican William H. Taft is happy and confident; his Democrat rival William Jennings Bryan is unkempt, seedy, and in need of a shave (the power of subconscious graphic subtleties!)

A beautiful young Native American woman stands beneath a sprig of mistletoe at a colonial Christmas party, while several men in attendance appear eager to kiss her.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-12-07

In an imaginary battle, aircraft, battleships, and submarines are shooting at each other. Caption: Whereas formerly we fought our naval battles on top of the water only, we now may fight them on the water, over the water, and under the water!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-10-27

Henry Hudson and crew on the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon) sail up the Hudson River and trade with natives along the way. Vignettes show scenes of what Hudson might witness if he returned 300 years later for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. Caption: His original visit and some possibilities should he return for the celebration.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-09-29

Joseph Gurney Cannon, on a bucking bronco labeled “Insurgence,” just barely hangs on with one hand while holding the “Party Whip” with the other. The saddle, labeled “Speakership,” is held in place by a strap labeled “The System.” The bridle is labeled “Patronage.” Caption: He can’t come back.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-08-31

A Dutchman holds with his left hand balance scales on which are pelts and a weight. He is supporting the side of the scales with the pelts with his left foot and is holding the other side of the scales with his right hand in order to cheat the Native of the proper value for his pelts. Caption: As it was in New Amsterdam.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-06-08

Joseph Gurney Cannon and Nelson W. Aldrich, dressed as a frontiersman labeled “Licensed Trader,” offer trinkets labeled “Pauper-Competition Scare, Steady-Work Yarn, Prosperity-For-All Bluff, Campaign Promises, Protection-For-Labor Josh, [and] Good-Crops-Due-to-Tariff Bluff,” to men dressed as Natives, getting in return furs and skins labeled “Graft-for-Monopoly, Right-of-the-Few-to-Tax-the-Many, Opportunities-to-Increase-the-Cost-of-Living, [and] Privilege-to-Levy-Tribute-on-the-American-Home.” Caption: How pleasant it is to get something for nothing from the simple children of Republican nature!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-01-26

A battered diminutive football player labeled “The Plain People” tells President Taft, as an umpire, that a player labeled “Aldrich” for the opposing team is playing a dirty game, breaking the rules and cheating, but Taft never penalizes him for his actions. Caption: “He slugs me every chance he gets, and you can’t or won’t see it.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-11-10

William H. Taft and William Jennings Bryan, as Native Americans, sit by their tepees. Taft is heating his full dinner pail over a small fire, and Bryan is beating on a drum labeled “Discontent.” J. S. Sherman and John W. Kern are sitting on the ground among a group of others standing in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

“Making Medicine” is the first major political cartoon in Puck by the illustrator and cartoonist Will Crawford who, like the magazine’s owner and chief political cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, was a proponent of Indian rights, a student of Native American lore, and eventually an honorary member of tribes. Frequently, therefore, Crawford used Native American traditions, customs, and dress in his cartoons; virtually never is disrespect.

A Native man stands on the shore of the Panama Canal with his burro loaded with local products, possibly sugarcane.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-07-09

In a bird’s-eye view of a baseball game in progress, a grand slam home run has just been hit. The foreground is dominated by the baseball.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-06-25

At the intersection of a busy city street and a street railroad on a Sunday, many activities are taking place at an amusement park, a golf course, a real estate office, a club house, a baseball game in progress, and on a beach.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-06-18

German Emperor William II is about to place another bundle of rifles, swords, and ammunition labeled “The Last Straw” onto a huge stack of weapons labeled “German Armament” on the back of a camel labeled “German Capacity War Taxation.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-05-07

Woodrow Wilson as a cowboy holds a rope to lasso a bucking horse labeled “Congress,” which has thrown lame duck president William H. Taft, who sits on the ground in tattered clothing. Next to Taft is a letter that states, “Dear William, Come over and have a seat in my Kent Chair of Law. Yours- Yale.” Caption: The Tenderfoot–Ride the beast if you want to. I’m through. Me for a more restful seat!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-02-26

An Army officer stands in a doorway with a woman labeled “W.C.T.U.”, a clergyman, and a man labeled “Timid Legislator.” They are viewing scenes in a canteen, where soldiers are playing chess and reading, and a dive where soldiers are drunk, arguing, and consorting with prostitutes. Includes a lengthy caption about “W.C.T.U.” efforts to close canteens and the government’s unwillingness to reinstate them.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-02-19

An automobile driver tries to negotiate workmen in the roadway, children playing ball in the street and darting in front of automobiles, absentminded pedestrians stepping off the curb, and people exiting streetcars into oncoming traffic. Includes a lengthy caption about the hazards an automobile driver faces on city streets.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-01-29

Santa Claus points a handgun at the viewer. Caption: As Santa Claus looks to some of us.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-12-11