Sleeping beauty
Subject(s): Corruption, Debt--Public, Guard duty, Guards troops, Lobbying, Sleep, Spider webs, Spiders, Uncle Sam (Symbolic character), Watchmen
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Uncle Sam, as a sleeping Swiss guard of the “Public Funds,” is being overtaken by trees and cobwebs. Two dogs are also asleep at his feet. A building on the right labeled “Public Funds” is being overgrown by a tree labeled “Corruption” with spreading limbs labeled “National, State, [and] City.” A snake labeled “Lobbyism” hangs from the branches, and rats flee with coins from its coffers. Two spiders labeled “Graft” and “Bossism” ply the webs, a tree on the left is labeled “Ring Rule,” and an alligator labeled “Greed” prowls the foreground among tree roots labeled “Dead Conscience.” In the background, a vulture labeled “Monopoly” keeps an eye on a candlelight vigil by a person labeled “Dead Letter Laws” for a female figure labeled “Honesty.” The candle glows with “Hope.”
Comments and Context
This cartoon illustrates the magazine’s evolution from humor-tinged reform advocacies to a more urgent, more radical agenda. In its past, the magazine would have addressed these social and governmental ills, but without the apocalyptic tone of this cartoon.
Conditions in society were changing, of course; and Puck’s own role in influencing public opinion, especially in the Era of the Muckrakers, affected public attitudes. Powerful cartoons like this summarized the issues before the public.
It is likely, too, that the radical evolution of Puck‘s editorial positions was due to the appointment of John Kendrick Bangs as editor the year before this cartoon was published. The previous editor Harry Leon Wilson was more the humorist, but Bangs the humorist has sharpened his partisan teeth as editor at Harper’s Weekly and Harper’s monthly magazine, where he underwent radical changes in his positions.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1905-08-16
Creator(s)
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909; Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956
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:
Sleeping beauty. [August 16, 1905]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278129. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909; Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Sleeping beauty. [16 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/o278129.
APA:
Pughe, J. S. (John S.), 1870-1909; Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1905, August 16]. Sleeping beauty.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278129.
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.
