A maypolitical party
Subject(s): Consumers, Cost and standard of living, Flowers, Japanese flowering cherry, May-pole, Tariff, Trusts, Industrial
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A tall man labeled “Consumer” serves as the May pole to a group of chubby girls labeled “Steel Trust, Lumber Trust, Sugar Trust, Wool Trust, [and] Glove Trust” who are winding ribbons labeled “Schedule” around him. He is standing beneath cherry blossoms which spell “Puck.”
Comments and Context
Seldom missing the opportunity to employ a pun, the issue marking May Day, the international workers’ day, Puck created a neologism in the caption to Albert Levering’s cartoon: “A Maypolitical Party.”
The hapless consumer — an iconic figured eventually supplanted by the political cartoonists’ average voter, John Q. Public — is strapped, immobile, by the children at the May day picnic. To depict the predicament more clearly, Levering has the “innocent” children as representatives of various trusts that still controlled the prices of many consumer goods in America. Further, the young girls are all chubby, from prosperous families; and the consumer is thin and wan.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-05-05
Creator(s)
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:
A maypolitical party. [May 5, 1909]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291309. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929. A maypolitical party. [5 May. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291309.
APA:
Levering, Albert, 1869-1929., [1909, May 5]. A maypolitical party.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291309.
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.
