Next!
Subject(s): Big business, Octopuses, Petroleum industry and trade, Standard Oil Company, Storage tanks
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A “Standard Oil” storage tank appears as an octopus with many tentacles. It is wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house and the U.S. Capitol, and one tentacle is reaching for the White House.
Comments and Context
The rapid growth of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Corporation was astonishing, especially since it commenced barely more than a generation before this 1904 cartoon by Keppler. Oil and its derivatives like kerosene and gasoline rapidly became staples and necessities of American life. At one time Rockefeller controlled more than 90 per cent of American oil extraction (until Standard Oil was ordered by the courts to break up into many entities). With adjustments, Rockefeller is still reckoned to have been the richest American in history.
Understandably — whether viewed from legitimate self-interest or greed — Standard Oil (in 1904 almost the sole constituent member of the “Oil Trust”) had interests beyond pumping oil in many areas of American life. Rockefeller owned or controlled virtually everything from magazines to politicians. Additionally, in the fashion of J. P. Morgan and other financiers, he had begun to organize his empire along “vertical” lines — owning everything from means of production to retail deliveries.
The inherent dangers and real distress rapidly were becoming evident to increasing numbers of Americans, and the situation was dramatically depicted by cartoonist Keppler.
Students may notice a significant detail of the cartoon — perhaps Keppler’s main point: every aspect of American life that Keppler defined are in the clutches of the monopoly’s tentacles. But the White House… not yet controlled. President Theodore Roosevelt recognized that fact; and fought against such control through the end of his presidency.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1904-09-07
Creator(s)
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:
Next!. [September 7, 1904]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277854. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Next!. [7 Sep. 1904]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277854.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1904, September 7]. Next!.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o277854.
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 12, 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.
