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Uncle Sam, as Rip Van Winkle, wakes up next to his broken rifle labeled “Competition.” Joseph Gurney Cannon, wearing colonial dress, stands before him, offering him a flagon of “Stand Pat Schnapps.” Sitting on a rock in the background is J. S. Sherman holding up a flagon as well. Caption: “No more of that, thank you. I’m awake.”
Comments and Context
This handsome cartoon cover of Puck weeks into the Taft presidency and sixty-first Congress, illustrates the assumption of Old Guard Republican Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon that years have passed, as per the Rip Van Winkle legend, and that Uncle Sam may awaken to life as it was before Theodore Roosevelt. “Stand Pat” conservative policies of high tariffs and a free hand for big business are Cannon’s presumptive “good old days.”
The cartoon is based on the classic tale by Washington Irving, set in the lower Catskill Mountains of New York State on the Hudson River and the border of New Jersey, across the river from Irving own home, “Sunnyside,” near Tarrytown. In Irving’s popular story, Rip fell asleep after drinking with strange, diminutive Dutchmen he encountered. He awoke twenty years later, a widower and not recognized by his old neighbors. Even today, thunder in the Catskills is sometimes attributed to ninepins by the diminutive Dutch bowlers.
In the cartoon by Glackens, Uncle Sam is sleepy, but not insensitive of the changes wrought during his slumber. Cannon is the delusional character in the cartoon, but he is encouraged by the happy figure, quaffing in the distance, Vice President J. S. Sherman, the “Stand Pat” mole in the Taft Administration.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-03-24
Creator(s)
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933
Period
African Safari (March 1909-1910)
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 rousing of Rip. [March 24, 1909]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291125. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. The rousing of Rip. [24 Mar. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291125.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1909, March 24]. The rousing of Rip.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291125.
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 26, 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.
