Buster Bill, the Park Row cut-up
Subject(s): Brisbane, Arthur, 1864-1936, Democratic donkey (Symbolic character), Democratic Party (U.S.), Dogs, Elections, Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951, Journalism
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William Randolph Hearst paints a donkey yellow from a bucket of paint labeled “Riot & Rottenness.” He holds the donkey by a bridle labeled “Dem. State Machine.” A dog, with the countenance of Hearst’s able amanuensis Arthur Brisbane, plays Buster’s dog Tige in this cartoon.
Comments and Context
Once the Yellow Journalist publisher and New York congressman William Randolph Hearst declared his interest in the 1906 gubernatorial contest as a Democrat, Udo J. Keppler and his Puck magazine fired weekly salvos against him.
Hearst had his power and influence and years of radical advocacies behind him, but he also had a record of scandal, sensationalism, and (in the view of Theodore Roosevelt and others) virtual sedition in his papers. Keppler was shared Roosevelt’s opinion.
The Democratic donkey is smeared yellow in a reference to yellow journalism, the insulting term supposedly derived from circulation wars with Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) over the Yellow Kid cartoon character. Hearst himself and his assistant Arthur Brisbane are dressed as other Hearst cartoon characters, Buster Brown and Tige.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1906-10-24
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:
Buster Bill, the Park Row cut-up. [October 24, 1906]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o279021. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. Buster Bill, the Park Row cut-up. [24 Oct. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 24, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o279021.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1906, October 24]. Buster Bill, the Park Row cut-up.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o279021.
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 24, 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.
