Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909

Vignettes of life in prison show “Respectable” prisoners who play golf, wear fitted prison uniforms, go yachting, have their valets perform their hard labor, attend lavish dinners complete with speakers under the banner “The Lord Loveth a Cheerful Grafter,” and are transported in fine horse-drawn carriages. Caption: A way to aid Justice in landing the “respectable” crook.

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In 1905 the first trial of Harry K. Thaw, Pittsburgh scion who famously killed his wife’s lover, was a year in the future, but readers can be assured that celebrities and trust magnates were being convicted of crimes and sent to prisons at an increasing rate. It was, after all the Age of the Muckraker, when exposes and revelations were continual fare in daily newspapers and monthly magazines.

A turkey sits on a tree branch, dreaming of a “Vegetarian Pledge” and countless people lining up to sign their names. All the wild and domestic animals laugh. In the lower right corner, an old man with an axe waits for the turkey.

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The major cartoon weeklies of the time had virtual designees as specialists in animal cartoons. Anthropomorphic creatures were a staple of American humor at the time — in fact, since Aesop — but cartoonists joined the ranks at this time. J. S. Pughe was the most prominent of Puck’s animal cartoonists.

President Roosevelt appears as Santa Claus gathering gifts, such as “Consulship, Ambassadorship, Secretary of Navy, Secretary of State, Governorship of Philippines” and others, to place into his bag of Christmas presents, which George B. Cortelyou is holding open. A paper in Cortelyou’s pocket is labeled “Post Master General.”

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This cartoon, published at the end of November 1904, between President Roosevelt’s triumphant re-election and Christmas, relies on the fact that the Roosevelt presidency was not merely to continue, but in fact begin a new term. It was traditional for vice presidents assuming the presidency after the death of their presidents, to adhere to the policies, and retain the personnel, of their former chiefs. This tradition was often practiced in the breach, especially when simple, practical matters intervened — political exigencies; voluntary resignations of staff members; unforeseen events, for instance.

The newly elected Democratic governor of Massachusetts, William L. Douglas, appears as a gladiator holding a sword labeled “Popular Approval” and a shield showing the Seal of the State of Massachusetts. In the arena, he faces a dragon with the head of a bull and fashioned out of industrial parts labeled “Leather Trust, Flour Trust, Beet Trust, Steel Trust, Cotton Trust, Tobacco Trust, Oil Trust, Woolen Goods, Iron, Copper, Steel, [and] Glass.” The dragon’s back and tail are labeled “Monopoly” and “High Protective Tariff.” On the ground between its front legs is a woman labeled “Fair Trade.” Standing in the audience are Republicans O. H. Platt, Henry C. Lodge, Nelson W. Aldrich, Nathan B. Scott, John C. Spooner, and Redfield Proctor.

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An interesting figure in American politics was William Lewis Douglas. He was a prominent shoe manufacturer in Massachusetts, a state known for that product. He was friendly to unions (but a foe of socialism); a staunch opponent of monopolies (as depicted in Pughe’s cartoon, where he challenges the Trust Monster); and an advocate of free trade with Canada (if for no other reason that his business bought hides and coal from the neighbors to the north). He pioneered the concept of manufacturer-owned retails outlets, growing W. L. Douglas Shoe Stores to 60 across America at their busiest.

James Rudolph Garfield, as a physician, administers a large dose labeled “Federal Franchise” to a bloated, elderly man labeled “The Trusts” sitting in a chair with his feet soaking in a tub labeled “Rough on Railroads.” On a table are various medicines named after states, and on the right, Uncle Sam, as a nurse, is standing in the background. Caption: Dr. Garfield — This may reduce your income, but it will steady your nerves.

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One of Theodore Roosevelt’s many nicknames was “The Trust-Buster,” and with reason. Early in his presidency a federal suit was filed against the Northern Securities Company. It rattled Wall Street; Wall Street’s J. P. Morgan pleaded that Roosevelt could have sent “his man” to see Morgan’s “man” and settled whatever the problem was. But Roosevelt’s intention was not to tend to a mistake or minor detail; after decades of growing complaints about monopolies and the restraint of trade, the president had come to believe that trusts — powerful, colluding, sometimes secretive organizations — needed to be addressed.

At center a valentine card features President Roosevelt as Cupid. Around the outside are other valentines featuring two European leaders, American industrial and political figures, a Russian admiral, a writer identified only as “Tom,” and a Wall Street con artist.

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Whether it was a cartoonist’s creative crutch every year, or readers’ happy expectations, the easy formula of imaginary Valentine’s Day cards for political figures was a frequent feature in Puck and other satirical weeklies of the day. Frederick Burr Opper drew many of these over his years at Puck in the 1880s and ’90s.

Father Knickerbocker, a symbolic figure for New York City, holds a large stick labeled “Municipal Ownership” at his side and confronts three animated figures labeled “Electric Light Monopoly, Telephone Trust, [and] Gas Trust.” Caption: Father Knickerbocker — I hate to use this, but-

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“Politics makes strange bedfellows,” and so do economics and social pressures. In the new century, American cities expanded, especially with poor immigrants; and technological innovations brought electricity, power, telephones, telegraphs, and modes of transportation to the masses.

A troop of senators, as Confederate soldiers being led by an officer on horseback labeled “Trusts,” march down a street past the house with “Barbara Fritchie” labeled “Dingley Tariff” leaning out the window, waving a flag labeled “High Protection.” Caption: “Who touches a hair on yon swelled head / Dies like a dog! March on!” he said.

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The reference-point of cartoonist Pughe’s cartoon is the famous poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, “Barbara Fritchie.” The legend about the old lady is almost certainly apocryphal — the Union patriot who waved her stars and stripes as occupying Confederate forces rode by her house in Frederick, Maryland.

Uncle Sam pushes President Theodore Roosevelt, on a sled labeled “The ‘Teddy’ Flyer,” down a snow covered hill labeled “1905 to 1909.” In the background is a wrecked sled labeled “McKinley’s Policy.”

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This issue of Puck was dated just days before Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration to his second presidential term. That Puck, generally a Democratic journal, frequently had been partial to Roosevelt and his policies is seen by the favorable aura in the cover cartoon.

President Roosevelt, as a trainer in a circus, holds a whip and is getting tangled in ropes attached to a hippopotamus labeled “The Trusts,” an elephant labeled “G.O.P.”, a donkey labeled “Panama,” and two natives labeled “San Domingo” and “Philippines.”

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J. S. Pughe was Puck Magazine’s go-to animal cartoonist, and this week’s center-spread cartoon — one week into the new administration — enabled a flexing of his skills to set a scene in a circus’s center ring.

William Randolph Hearst hosts a dinner for a gathering of cartoon characters at the White House. On the left, a dinosaur is eating a portrait of President Roosevelt. Caption: The inaugural dinner at the White House.

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William Randolph Hearst is a fascinating American figure who dominated many fields he pursued and influenced various areas of American life. His father was George Hearst, a miner whose discoveries of silver and gold made him fabulously wealthy. A term as United States senator from California was one of his toys, as was the purchase of newspapers — one of which, the San Francisco Examiner, he gifted to his son after the latter was expelled from Harvard for lassitude and pranks.

The Grim Reaper, dressed as a steamboat captain, holds a scythe and directs crowds of people on an “Annual Sunday School Excursion” through the entrance to the “Wooden Steamboat Co.” to board an old wooden steamboat that is in disrepair and carrying outdated life preservers.

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Only weeks previous to this cartoon’s publication, a steamship disaster in New York City’s East River occurred, and the inquest was convened when cartoonist J. S. Pughe memorialized the situation. The sidewheel excursion boat General Slocum caught fire and sank despite being close to shore, and 1021 people died of the full passenger and crew of 1342. It was New York’s worst loss of life until the 9-11 attack.

President Roosevelt and Judge Alton Brooks Parker meet as boxers in a boxing ring, shaking hands before the start of the match. Uncle Sam, as the referee, stands in the background.

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With the dust settled from President Roosevelt’s active administration after William McKinley’s assassination, Democratic Party wrangling between factions favoring and opposing William Jennings Bryan — by mid-summer 1904, the rival presidential candidates were chosen, and the campaign could begin.

An old woman labeled “Miss Democracy” rides on the Democratic donkey along a dirt road labeled “Political Pike.” A banner labeled “S and S” (Safe and Sane) hangs from the donkey’s neck. In the background, the Republican elephant labeled “G.O.P.”, ridden by George B. Cortelyou, is leaning against a tree. Caption: The Elephant — Well, gee whiz! Who’d have thought it?!

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Cartoonist Pughe’s depiction of the Democratic Party’s happiness, and Puck‘s own confidence, over the transformation of Populist ideology and return of conservative values, reflected facts, but the reality was short-lived as well as futile. Theodore Roosevelt’s Republican Party was moving closer to reform views first advanced by William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic presidential candidate in 1896 and 1900) and, overall, was overwhelmingly popular with citizens.

Politicians Henry Gassaway Davis, William Jennings Bryan, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles W. Fairbanks, Thomas Collier Platt, and Alton B. Parker shake hands with farmers outside a tent labeled “The New Farmers’ Alliance.” Caption: Find the real farmers.

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At first glance, this cartoon by J. S. Pughe can be viewed as a prosaic view of campaign-season politicians seeking the voters of farmers and the agrarian class. It is what politicians do, reaching out to all segments of the voting public. A chuckle can be raised by the depiction of politicians, even those in top hats, wearing farmers’ boots, trousers, and chore coats.

Democrats and Republicans, capitalists, social reformers, political symbols, and others enjoy a summer outing at a park.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-08-17

The Russian Bear, as a soldier with rifle, has been turned into a scarecrow. A crow labeled “Japan” bites its nose. Another crow labeled “England” is perched on its cap. A crow labeled “Germany” is flying around its head. A crow labeled “Turkey” is on the ground at its feet. A crow labeled “China” is perched on the rifle butt. All these crows, and several others on a fence nearby, are cawing with laughter at the scarecrow.

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The term “Sick Man of Europe” has been applied through centuries of international diplomacy to several countries — the Ottoman Empire and Turkey during periods of decline, and Great Britain when parts of its empire fell away. In the years prior to World War I, Russia surely wore the mantle.

Benjamin B. Odell, as the New York Governor and as the Chairman of the Republican State Committee, both point to the figure of Odell as the man of the future — either role, or a more elevated one. Investigated in a political scandal with other officeholders (never charged nor convicted), the cartoonist shows the two personalities of Odell. Caption: Governor Odell and the Chairman agree upon a successor.

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Benjamin B. Odell was a pivotal figure in the political career of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt paid grateful acknowledgement to Odell in his autobiography and elsewhere. Even at the expense of his own ambitions, Odell was an early and frequent proponent of Roosevelt as governor and as vice president, and strongly supported the Roosevelt presidential administration.

President Roosevelt sits at a desk pondering the Philippine and Central American issues. Papers on his desk read, “Philippine Policy,” “Panama Canal Treaty,” and “Mastery of the Hemisphere.” He imagines a statue of Abraham Lincoln, around which are vignettes showing Roosevelt denying the “Philippine Petition for Freedom,” using force against Colombia at the Panama Canal, menacing South America and Central America with a big club, and standing with arms folded across his chest, wearing imperial robes and a crown.

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Abraham Lincoln was Theodore Roosevelt’s hero, a model in temperament, decisions, and wisdom. Roosevelt’s father was “the best man I ever knew” (the opening lines of his Autobiography) and Roosevelt wrote biographies of men he admired — Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Hart Benton and others in book chapters and magazine articles. But Lincoln was his political and moral hero; and of course Roosevelt was not alone with these sentiments.

Two cats, one labeled “Japan” attacking the other labeled “Russia,” have their tails tied to a rope labeled “Manchuria” with a ribbon labeled “Neutrality.”

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“Kilkenny cats” are parties whose disagreements are so strong that they kill and devour each other, with only their tails remaining on the ground. The term is derived from a legend about the querulous residents of County Kilkenny in Ireland.