Grapes

Timothy L. Woodruff is chained from behind to rocks labeled “Petty Ward Politics, Dadyism, [and] Guden Job,” making it impossible for him to reach a bunch of grapes on a vine labeled “United States Senatorship” hanging just beyond his grasp. The U.S. Capitol is in the background.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Timothy Woodruff, New York Lieutenant Governor under Theodore Roosevelt, was one of several New York State Republicans in the 1890s and the first decade of the twentieth century who had competing ambitions within the state (gubernatorial, senatorial, and presidential) and therefore clashed in intra-party squabbles. Governor Benjamin Odell, who was elected governor after Roosevelt — Woodruff being the only New York to serve as lieutenant governor under three different governors, Frank S. Black; Roosevelt; and Odell — sought to remove minor office-holders in Kings County, including a sheriff named Gruden and allies, the brothers Dady, all of whom were tainted with scandal and defied a court order issued by Supreme Court Justice William Gaynor. Woodruff allied himself with that trio, to his discredit, at least in the eyes of Puck. The style of dress assigned by cartoonist Pughe casts Woodruff as a common ward-heeler. Roosevelt’s position regarding Woodruff and Odell was delicate, as both were generally competent and honest, and both were consistently strong supporters of him.

A fox labeled “France” and the Russian Bear walk away from a grape arbor labeled “Anglo-Japanese Alliance.” They have tried the grapes and found them not palatable.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This seemingly innocent anthropomorphic cartoon ably suggests the troubling and complicated situation of international politics leading to the Great War a dozen years in its future. Treaties, “understandings,” secret alliances — some of them broken, and shifting — starting about the time of this cartoon are major factors in the cauldron that armed the Guns of August (1914, the commencement of continental hostilities). Great Britain ended a generation of “splendid isolation” — avoiding entangling alliances — with the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902, the grape arbor of this cartoon. England’s concern partly was animated by a desire to counter Russia’s stated expansionist goals. France, which had treaty “obligations” with Russia, suddenly realized the possibility of being squeezed by powers from the east and west in the event of conflict. So Russia and Japan had reasons not to savor the grapes in the cartoon. A significant aspect of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty inured to the benefit of the United States and Theodore Roosevelt. During the negotiations he hosted to end the Russo-Japanese War two years subsequent, he was able to call upon Great Britain and its special relationship with Tokyo for assistance and back-channel communications. In the same manner also, Germany, tellingly absent from the 1902 round of alliances, was useful when Roosevelt recruited Kaiser Wilhelm to play a role with his cousin Czar Nicholas.

Theodore Roosevelt commiserates with Ada Hall about the rising cost of produce. He mentions that farmers are just as displeased as consumers. He hopes that those with the power to affect change will investigate the issue.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-15

President Roosevelt asks how the article is coming along. He also enjoyed the summer day with John Burroughs and the grapes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-11

President Roosevelt thanks Benedict for the grapes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-15

Ambassador Meyer is reporting to President Roosevelt the state of affairs in Russia after having found St. Petersburg quiet. Meyer traveled throughout Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine. The letter examines the situations in many different cities and other topics including removing Jews from Russia, revolution and revolutionaries’ tactics, a pheasant shoot, military escorts, history, travel, and Russian construction quality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-28

A caterpillar labeled “Communism” chews on a grape leaf showing “$” signs and labeled “Capital.” Underneath is a bunch of grapes, some of which are labeled “Law, Order, Rights, Talent, Worth, Industry, Education, Respect, Business, [and] Peace.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-04-04

Print shows Father Knickerbocker, a symbolic figure for New York City, bound to a stone wall labeled “Ring Rule” by chains labeled “Partisanship,” tempted by a bunch of grapes labeled “Rapid Transit” hanging on a vine that is just out of reach.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-04-26