Let prison life be pleasant
Subject(s): Criminals, Manners and customs, Prisoners
Click on image to zoom in
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.
Comments and Context
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.
J. S. Pughe’s genre cartoon is more humorous speculation and general commentary than a focus on one miscreant or another (possibly J. P. Morgan in the sailboat, Chauncey Depew at the end of the dais, or John D. Rockefeller at the tee.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-08-02
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
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:
Let prison life be pleasant. [August 2, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278125. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909. Let prison life be pleasant. [2 Aug. 1905]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278125.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909., [1905, August 2]. Let prison life be pleasant.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278125.
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.
