The first recruit

President Roosevelt stitches a uniform around William H. Taft who holds a “big stick.” Caption: On His Way to Join the “Hamilton County Ring Killers Brigade.” Twenty-five Hundred Volunteers Wanted.

comments and context

Comments and Context

A small, rural newspaper evidently “borrowed” an image and premise from a major cartoonist in a major city in order to graft local references and apply a different context. In this case, from the White House scrapbook, the Hamilton County Hornet in Williams, Iowa (there was another publication in the country named The Wasp), transformed a cartoon from the New York World.

The drawing shows President Roosevelt as a tailor, fashioning — or trying to fashion — a Rough Rider uniform for William H. Taft, so the presidential aspirant and favorite of Roosevelt more closely would resemble the actual Rough Rider.

The signature gives “credit” to Charles Green Bush of the New York World, making it appear to be a straight reproduction. However, Bush never drew this badly, and was surer of anatomy, and was a master caricaturist. To compound the mystery, or artistic libel, the Bush “signature” in turn gave credit to the great Bernard Partridge of the London Punch. The practice of borrowing an idea or composition, with attribution, was relatively common; but a “double steal” was not.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-04-08

Creator(s)

Bush, Charles Green, 1842-1909

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation