The Earth as seen from Mars
Subject(s): Earth, Petroleum industry and trade, Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1839-1937, Standard Oil Company
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Earth, with the face of John D. Rockefeller, appears against an oil slick labeled “The oily way” showing oil cans.
Comments and Context
Cartoonist Joseph Keppler, Junior’s caricatures of moguls like John D. Rockefeller, as here, by 1905 ceased to portray happy or neutral faces. Rather the trust giants were bitter or dyspeptic in their cartoons. So Rockefeller’s expression bears no relation to the circumstances suggested.
In fact the depicted situation was pleasing to Rockefeller. He was richest an in America at the time; and, some people compute with adjustments for time and economic changes, the richest man, ever, in America. The context of the front-page cartoon is to make a simple pun on recent reports in the Muckraking press about Rockefeller and his oil empire — particularly 19 monthly installments by Ida Tarbell in McClure’s magazine, then collected in a book, The History of Standard Oil.
The true portrait exposed by Tarbell, and reflected in Keppler’s cartoon, was that if Rockefeller represented the earth, then the heavenlies were bathed in the “Oily Way,” not the Milky Way, as countries became dependent on oil, gas, gasoline, and petroleum derivatives.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-08-09
Creator(s)
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:
The Earth as seen from Mars. [August 9, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278126. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The Earth as seen from Mars. [9 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/o278126.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, August 9]. The Earth as seen from Mars.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278126.
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.
