Big business

An over-sized man labeled “The Individual” casts a shadow labeled “Incorporation” which is caused by a light, on the left, held by a “Corporation Lawyer” and a “Corporation Legislator.” On the right, a female figure labeled “Dept. of Justice,” carrying a shield and a fasces, assails the shadow. Caption: “Whatever of wrong there is, is not the fault of the Corporation, but of the officials in charge of it. And for the individual committing the offense there should be punishment.”–Alton B. Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-11-02

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

A man labeled “Producer,” laden with farm produce, is stopped on one side, and a man labeled “Consumer” is stopped on the other, by a masked man between them labeled “Food Speculator” who is pointing handguns labeled “Cold Storage” at both. They have been ambushed on the “Road of Supply and Demand” and the middle-man is now going to profit from both the producer and the consumer. Caption: Good guns in bad hands.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-10-06

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

A tall male figure labeled “U.S. Public Land Grant” looks like a Trojan horse from which corrupt figures labeled “Land Grafter, Timber Grafter, Mineral Grafter, Corrupt Official, [and] Power Monopolist” emerge clutching a “Fraudulent Title” or a “Transferred Claim” seeking “Mineral Rights, Timber Rights, [and] Waterpower Rights” and other claims to public lands.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1909-11-24

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

Handwritten essay regarding industrial relations and big business. Published in Metropolitan Magazine, January and February 1920.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1917

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

A dejected, well-dressed man labeled “The Corporation” sits next to an ice bucket filled with bottles labeled “Wall St. Brand, Privilege Brut, Immunity Fizz, [and] Stand Pat Sec,” while in the background William Jennings Bryan and William H. Taft are holding bottles of “Publicity Lithia.” The “Corporation” man misses those days when Mark Hanna was a driving force in presidential campaigns. Caption: The Wine Agent — Gee! When Mark was alive I opened a case a minute.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-08-12

A throng of petty criminals in a prison point to a small cell labeled “For the Incorporated Law Breaker,” insisting that white-collar crime goes unpunished. Caption: The cry of the small crook.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-02-19

A sketch after Trumbull’s painting “The Declaration of Independence” shows John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Thomson, standing around a table where John Hancock is sitting, as a businessman labeled “Spirit of 1908” rushes in from the left. Caption: Where would we be now if modern counsel had prevailed in ’76?

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-03-04

Moses, holding the Ten Commandments, is confronted by an angry mob of capitalists, businessmen, and politicians, some shaking their fists at him. Caption: Chorus of “Conservatives” – Dangerous, socialistic, un-American doctrines!

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-03-11

Fagin from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, labeled “Corporation Lawyer,” watches as his protégé, Oliver Twist, labeled “Public Service Corporation,” picks the pocket of Uncle Sam on a city sidewalk. Caption: Instructor in the art of stealing and getting away with it.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-10-02

A woman labeled “Corrupt Corporations” stands in a bell tower, hanging onto the clapper of a bell labeled “Third Term” which bears the countenance of Theodore Roosevelt.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-09-18

A hand labeled “Collections” holds a pin, about to pop a big red balloon labeled “Big Business Orders.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-07-31

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

The Greek mythological figures of fate are represented in the form of a man (representing Lachesis) labeled “Commercial Lawlessness,” sitting with a pile of money on his lap and handing money labeled “Bribery” to a man (representing Atropos) wearing a uniform labeled “Crooked Inspection.” The latter holds a pair of scissors labeled “Disaster,” and is about to cut a thread that extends from the businessman to the figure of Clotho labeled “Human Life” standing between them. At their feet, on the left, are railroad and steamship accidents, a building fire, and dead bodies, and, on the right, is a ticker tape machine.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-03-13

A man labeled “Corporate Corruption” and a baby boy labeled “Rail Road Scandal” lie sick in bed. Another young child labeled “Life Insurance Scandal” is trying to climb into the bed. Hanging on the wall above the bed is a portrait labeled “E.H.H.” A man departing the room carries a doctor’s bag labeled “Interstate Commerce Com. M.D.” On a table in the foreground is a bank for “Other People’s Pennies” and a bottle of “Legislation Drops.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-01-30

Uncle Sam, as Laocoön, is pictured with two men, one labeled “Business” and the other “Labor,” entwined with snakes labeled “Tariff Uncertainty” in front of the U.S. Capitol.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-10-11

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

A large businessman labeled “Centralized Wealth” uses candle snuffs labeled “Control of Credit, Control of Bank Deposits, Control of Transportation, Control of Public Utilities, Control of Food Supply, Control of Natural Resources, Control of Business, [and] Control of Wall Street” to extinguish candles labeled “Initiative, Untainted Success, Ambition, Independence, [and] Individualism.” An insert shows Puck talking to a socialist speaker. Caption: Puck (to Socialist orator) — Sit down! You don’t have to talk. This large person is making socialists faster than you can make them!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-01-18

Creator(s)

Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937

George W. Perkins encloses an editorial for President Roosevelt’s attention. The consolidation of mineral wealth and transportation systems is bringing them close to public ownership.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-15

Creator(s)

Perkins, George W. (George Walbridge), 1862-1920

Paul Dana argues against governmental regulation of trusts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-15

Creator(s)

Dana, Paul, 1852-1930

The creation of the Northern Securities Company is another step towards the consolidation of the nation’s railroad system. The new entity is almost a monopoly west of the Mississippi River. If railroad consolidation and organization continues the government will be in a perfect position to assume control.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-14

Creator(s)

Unknown