The American dope party
Subject(s): Cargo ships, Consumer protection, Food adulteration and inspection
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Men dressed as Native Americans stand on board a ship labeled “The Good Ship Dope,” throwing cartons and boxes of adulterated and unhealthy food products over the sides, into the harbor. Caption: A lesson in practical patriotism taught by the Boston tea party.
Comments and Context
Albert Levering might have been the most industrious cartoonist in the history of Puck magazine. When his drawings do not crawl with figures, props, labels, and detailed backgrounds, his other work — like interior humor cartoons and book illustrations — are replete with crowded visual elements and intricate shading. Levering also drew for Life and Harper’s Weekly.
In this cartoon, characteristically correct in its numerous details, the figures toss the horrible products that filled the grocery shelves of muckrakers’ America. Readers of a later day might assume that the labels and products flowed from the mind of a sarcastic cartoonist — but many of the descriptions are accurate, sadly true, or slight exaggerations, according to sensational articles of the day, for instance those in various magazines by Samuel Hopkins Adams about foods, “patent medicines,” and advertising.
There is abundant humor, however, for those who study the busy drawing — the Statue of Liberty vomiting; rats leaving a ship that is not sinking; the despair of a bald man holding hair restorer; and children chucking “soothing” cough syrup.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1906-06-27
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 American dope party. [June 27, 1906]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278550. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929. The American dope party. [27 Jun. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278550.
APA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929., [1906, June 27]. The American dope party.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o278550.
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. February 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.
