Ghosts

In a boardroom, the appearance of a ghost labeled “Spirit of Honesty” has frightened the men conducting business, labeled “Corporation Lawyer, Fake Promoter, Secret Rebater [hiding under the table], Lobbyist, Public Service Grafter, Public Exploiter, Hypocrite, Employed Perjurer, Speculating Trust Co, [and the] Yellow Dog Keeper.” Also shown are the “Yellow Dog” and several sheets of “Watered Stock.” Hanging on the wall is a sign that states “Dont Knock – Boost.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Despite the skin-of-their-teeth machinations of J. P. Morgan and ultimately President Roosevelt that kept the 1907 Wall Street Panic from becoming a major national economic depression, the public at large generally was not relieved to know that Wall Street righted itself.

The Republican elephant stands among the bones and ghosts of dinosaurs. One is offering a membership card that states “Ancient Order of Extinct Animals – Membership Ticket.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-11-27

The ghost of the Republican elephant rises from behind a tombstone that states “Sacred to the memory of a united Republican Party.” President “Taft” and “Teddy” Roosevelt believe that it is coming after them and are fleeing in fear. Caption: A graveyard is no place to be on Hallowe’en.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-10-30

The ghostly figure of a manic-looking man, labeled “Judge Lynch” and carrying a book labeled “Lynch Law” and a lighted torch, hovers over a procession of people. The procession is led by three solid citizens followed by farmers, unruly elements, and finally a long line of regular citizens including women, who look back at a small column of smoke in the distance – presumably a lynching. One of the unruly men shoots at a dog. (“Judge Lynch” was the personification of the practice, frequently found in the South, of executing African Americans suspected of crimes without the benefit of trial. In the second decade of the Twentieth Century, Progressives advocated various reforms designed to circumvent the state governments viewed as the tools of entrenched interests. The Recall was intended to allow the citizenry to directly vote officials out of office. The cartoonist suggests that this first be used to abolish the practice of lynching.)

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-02-21

Two men in a make-shift laboratory are about to operate on a live rabbit. A group of concerned citizens has entered on the left, attempting to stop the operation. The spirits of many past victims of illnesses are on the right imploring the men to continue with their research for the sake of humanity. Caption: The Sentimentalists — For mercy’s sake, stop! / The Sufferers — For humanity’s sake, go on!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-02-22