Fireworks

Theodore Roosevelt and his friends set off large numbers of fireworks over the Fourth of July and they all have some burns. Corinne Roosevelt had an asthma attack but has recovered. Roosevelt is now permitted to stay in the water as long as he likes but he was almost drowned the other day after being caught under water. He is studying English, French, German, and Latin. (Date on original letter appears to be July 7, though this transcription bears the date July 9, 1872.)

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1872-07-09

A young boy sits on the ground, leaning against a tree, asleep. Around him are clusters of fireworks waiting to be ignited.

comments and context

Comments and Context

A boy’s dream (as would have been specified in the Old Days) on the Fourth of July. Napping in a little country spot on the Fourth, as per the magazine’s issue date above his head, flowers have turned to pinwheels, Roman candles, and other fireworks.

A bald eagle, bruised and battered, stands on a pile of spent fireworks, following the celebration of the Fourth of July.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Modern readers might be tempted to see incipient regrets over an Independence Day celebration by the iconic American symbol. But the wan smile reflects the dangers of handling fireworks (perennial warning cartoons that were ubiquitous in magazines of the day), and not a criticism by cartoonist Keppler of the new American Century in any way.

A crowd of people celebrate a spinning fireworks display showing the head of Uncle Sam at center.

comments and context

Comments and Context

For Puck‘s celebratory holiday issue, July 4th, 1905, cartoonist Frank Nankivell, born in Australia, was given the task of creating a poster-like cover. The United States was at peace, was prospering economically, and had just re-elected a popular president whose exuberant optimism mirrored the nation’s own. It is interesting to note that, among the silhouetted hats on the crowd in the foreground, the most prominent is an army hat reminiscent of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Rider hat.

Independence Day fireworks spell out the word “Freedom” above an eagle forming the great seal of the United States hovering over a bird nest with four chicks labeled “Philippines, Cuba, Hawaii, [and] Porto Rico.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-07-03

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs the Pain Manufacturing Company that due to an illness in the Roosevelt family, it is impossible for Theodore and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to have the fireworks at their house on the Fourth of July. They are sorry to have to cancel the order, but hope to be able to renew it on another occasion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-13

Theodore and Edith Roosevelt would like the manufacturer to pick out fireworks for them. They want one large display, without torpedoes or cannon crackers, and plenty of packets of little crackers for their children to play with throughout the day. They are glad that there will be an attendant to supervise the display.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-19

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary requests fireworks from the Pain Manufacturing Company for the 4th of July.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-09

On behalf of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, George B. Cortelyou sends Navy Surgeon General Presley Marion Rixey tickets for the upcoming firework display. He asks that Rixey give directions to his coachman to use the west entrance to the grounds.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-10

Charles A. Rodgers thanks Frank Harper for his favor and regrets that his fireworks had to be cancelled for July 4. Rodgers states he will keep Harper’s order open in the Pain’s Manhattan Beach Fireworks books. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-14

Charles A. Rodgers sends Theodore Roosevelt a catalogue of fireworks. Rodgers informs Frank Harper that he will provide an attendant to carry out the firework display for Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-16

President Roosevelt sets off a number of fireworks and cannons as a Republican elephant carries a cannon on its back. A “Democratic party” woman looks startled as she holds an American flag and a “safe and sane” balloon.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-04

In the first vignette, Postmaster General Henry C. Payne points at a “Post Office scandal” stick of dynamite and says, “Aw! — It’s only a squib” as Perry S. Heath and August W. Machen look on. In the second vignette, the stick of dynamite explodes, sending Payne, Machen, and Heath flying.

Comments and Context

Henry Clay Payne served as President Theodore Roosevelt’s Postmaster General. Regarded by history as an undistinguished appointment, Payne was a railroad and streetcar entrepreneur from Milwaukee whose activities both benefited the city’s expansion and leisure opportunities for the working poor, and, somewhat typically of the day, was less than generous with workers’ pay and conditions. In the Roosevelt cabinet he was a loyal Republican organizer — Postmasters General still dispensed patronage in large measure — and largely was a functionary.

In early 1904 he assumed the additional duties of Chairman of the Republican National Committee upon the death of Marcus Alonzo Hanna. He resigned that portfolio after four months in favor of George B. Cortelyou. 

This postcard is part of the “4th of July” series. A child in military uniform waves an American flag in one hand and holds a sword in the other. The scene is set on a river bank with city buildings in the background. Fireworks and a cannon are at the child’s feet. Below is an illustration of Theodore Roosevelt with the words “July 4th” and a red, white and blue bow. The reverse has a divided space for message and address and a space for a one-cent stamp.

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1910

A Fourth of July postcard with a child lighting fireworks which are arranged to represent President Roosevelt’s facial features. On the lower right of the image is the phrase “D-lighted” which represents one of Roosevelt’s favored exclamations. The reverse of the postcard is divided for message and address.

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1907

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt hadn’t seen the poem before, but it is a “bully” one. He is concerned about fireworks in Washington, D.C. Roosevelt details the guests that will attend Quentin Roosevelt’s upcoming christening and promises to send a photograph of Ethel Roosevelt. He wishes Robert Harry Munro Ferguson could take part in their “Sunday scrambles.”

Collection

Arizona Historical Society

Creation Date

1897-12-22

President Wilson relaxes on a hammock while firecrackers labeled “Mulhall,” “Lamar,” “T.R. Roast,” and “Lobby” explode around him.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913

A fireworks display forms a chariot or wagon labeled “McKinleyism” driven by “boss” Mark A. “Hanna.” Thomas Collier “Platt,” Matthew S. “Quay,” and Joseph H. “Manley” appear in the display as chained, submissive prisoners following Hanna. Caption: A Republican Fourth of July display of fireworks, now arousing the wonder and admiration of the entire people.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-07-08

A fireworks display is being prepared. An “Anarchist” and John Peter “Altgeld” are lighting a rocket labeled “Altgeld Anarchistic Boom,” and several men identified as “Bland, Crisp, Teller, Waite, Blackburn, Wolcott, Morgan, [and] Stewart” are lighting rockets around a large medallion labeled “Free Silver Coinage Craze” with a silver coin labeled “In 16 to 1 We Trust.” Blackburn is holding a rocket labeled “Silver Speech” and on the ground are fireworks labeled “Snap Silver Resolutions.” At a table on the right, labeled “Coin’s Financial Hocus Pocus Game,” is William H. Harvey operating a shell game, and behind him is William A. Peffer, the “Windy Man from Kansas.” Caption: They are making great preparations for their Populistic Pyrotechnical display; but it will be only another fizzle.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-07-03

A gleeful Uncle Sam sits with John Bull, who is a sailor representing England, and six figures representing “Spain,” “Italy” (Umberto I), “Austria” (Franz Joseph I), “France,” Germany (William II), and “Russia” (Nicholas II), watching a fireworks display that shows the outline of a huge American battleship that illuminates the ruins of the “Spanish Fleet.” The clouds of smoke show portraits of “Schley, Sampson, Hobson, [and] Dewey.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-07-06