The finishing touch
Subject(s): Drugs, Medicine, Nurses, Older people, Physicians, Young adults
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A young man wearing a robe sits in a chair by a window, reading a book. A young woman nurse is attending to him and an old man, the doctor, has arrived for a check-up. There are medicines on a table in the foreground. Caption: The Nurse — The Doctor has come to take your temperature. / The Convalescent — I suppose it’s all I have left.
Comments and Context
This cartoon’s joke has little to do with a pretty nurse or a handsome patient, as might be assumed from many themes of the day. Rather, “taking” all he has left is a critique on the cost of doctors’ care, evidenced by the account-book on the table in the foreground.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1903-08-26
Creator(s)
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937
Period
U.S. President – 1st Term (September 1901-February 1905)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
The finishing touch. [August 26, 1903]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277347. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937. The finishing touch. [26 Aug. 1903]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277347.
APA:
Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937., [1903, August 26]. The finishing touch.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277347.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
