Down in the world
Subject(s): International relations, Nightclubs
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European leaders from England, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Germany, Austria, and Turkey are among the crowd enjoying the entertainments at the “Casino Del’ Europe.”
Comments and Context
Carl Hassman, Puck Magazine’s Viennese import who specialized in statements more than cartoons, often apocalyptic and frequently in poster styles, combined those attributes in this cartoon featuring the world’s monarchs in a fantasized setting. Royals and nobility sit, primping and resplendent in their medals and finery, at an imaginary casino.
There was no such assembly of nobility at the time time. In 1907 there was the second International Peace Conference at the Hague — the call for which was one of United States Secretary of State John Hay’s last acts — but royals largely sent political figures and subalterns in their stead to what was largely viewed as a useless exercise. In 1910 there would an astonishing array of the world’s royalty, in London for the funeral of King Edward VII. In a vast parade, almost as if the players knew it would a ghostly apotheosis of the monarchical system, every major and minor potentate from the world over participated, and jockeyed for prominence against each other.
Former president Theodore Roosevelt, already traveling in Europe at the time, was asked to represent the United States and President William H. Taft. Roosevelt and a French representative were the sole participants from republics, and stood out in suits.
Hassman’s drawing has ominous undertones. Not a single prominent monarch in the foreground is smiling: the tension, at least competition for attention, is palpable. High fashion, smoking, drinking, and the setting of a casino (rather than a dinner or concert) suggests an air of decadence. These situations were dispositive — the jealousies between many of the crowned heads who were, after all, in large degree related to each other — as well as the cartoonist’s choice to show virtually no conversations or acknowledgements between the players.
The cartoon was not unique in its foreshadowing a family feud among the decaying royal system, but its prescience was clearer than most analysts could describe.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1906-11-28
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:
Down in the world. [November 28, 1906]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284162. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Hassmann, Carl, 1869-1933. Down in the world. [28 Nov. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284162.
APA:
Hassmann, Carl, 1869-1933., [1906, November 28]. Down in the world.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284162.
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.
