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A large group of revelers toots horns to celebrate the new year and the arrival of a young boy labeled “1909.” Father Time labeled “1908” departs, taking Thomas Collier Platt with him.
Comments and Context
An otherwise innocuous, generic, celebratory cartoon in the 1908 New Year’s Eve issue of Puck has a political element as a bonus; and a rather pointed barb at that.
After the elections of 1908, many members of Senate and House of Representatives were retiring. Puck took special delighting in noting the departure from the national political scene of Senator Thomas Collier Platt. Platt had been a presence in Republican politics since 1881 when, as New York’s junior senator, he resigned his seat in concert with New York’s senior senator Roscoe Conkling. In a patronage dispute with the new president, James Garfield, they expected vindication by reelection of the state legislature (the public did not vote for senatorial candidates at the time)… but were surprised to be rejected. Conkling left politics; Platt — called by cartoonists of the day, chiefly Puck‘s, “Me Too” Platt” — survived and became a greater dictator of Republican politics and his state and through much of the national party.
As Senator he was ineffective, a spokesman for corporate interests, and an opponent of reform legislation. In the early 1900s, ambitious intraparty figures like Benjamin B. Odell and Timothy L. Woodruff, disciples of Theodore Roosevelt, effectively stripped Platt of power and influence. When he left the Senate — almost as unceremoniously as in Albert Levering’s cartoon — few mourned his eclipse.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1908-12-30
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:
Happy new year!. [December 30, 1908]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289567. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929. Happy new year!. [30 Dec. 1908]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289567.
APA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929., [1908, December 30]. Happy new year!.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o289567.
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. August 3, 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.
