Consumer protection

Men dressed as Native Americans stand on board a ship labeled “The Good Ship Dope,” throwing cartons and boxes of adulterated and unhealthy food products over the sides, into the harbor. Caption: A lesson in practical patriotism taught by the Boston tea party.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Albert Levering might have been the most industrious cartoonist in the history of Puck magazine. When his drawings do not crawl with figures, props, labels, and detailed backgrounds, his other work — like interior humor cartoons and book illustrations — are replete with crowded visual elements and intricate shading. Levering also drew for Life and Harper’s Weekly.

President Roosevelt expresses concern over Professor Harvey Washington Wiley’s competence as it relates to the implementation of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, despite his efforts in getting that legislation passed. Roosevelt tells Professor Henry Hurd Rusby that Wiley’s colleague, Professor Frederick L. Dunlap, will do in his place.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-07

Two men, one labeled “Producer,” use a pulley system labeled “U.S. Parcels Post” to ship a package labeled “Direct to Consumer” beyond the reach of a man labeled “Express Co.” straddling a “R. R.” station and a man labeled “Middleman” standing in front of a “Commission Market” to a man labeled “Consumer” and a woman standing at the other end of the pulley system. The consumer in turn sends payment for the goods received by the same system. Caption: What the parcels post would mean to them both.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-01-04

A sheep labeled “The Law” stands over a lamb labeled “Consumer” that has collapsed in the snow and is either dead or dying. A large cluster of ravens labeled “Tariff Graft, Food Trusts, [and] Special Privilege” have gathered, waiting to scavenge on the carrion.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1910-02-16

A freight train has departed a railroad station labeled “Producer” in the countryside and is passing through a tunnel labeled “Parcels Post Tunnel” in a mountain labeled “Mount Middleman” that has the figure of a man on its side. The front of the train has emerged on the city-side of the mountain and is headed toward a station labeled “Consumer” where a crowd of people are anxiously waiting. Caption: Mount Middleman is no longer an insurmountable barrier between producer and consumer.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-01-01

A large spider labeled “Flim Flam Finance,” with a disgruntled look on its face, sits on a cobweb labeled “Wall Street,” looking at a bunch of flies labeled “The Public” hovering just beyond the cobweb, mocking the spider.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-01-22

Four toll-takers labeled “Retailer’s Profit, Commission Broker’s Profit, Rail Road’s Profit, [and] Express Company’s Profit” stand on a bridge spanning a small waterway that separates the rural “Producer” on the right from the city “Consumer” on the left. Flying overhead is an airplane labeled “Parcels Post.” Caption: If you don’t like it, you know what you can do.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-12-13