The European Partingtons
John Bull, representing “England,” and a line of European rulers with the attributes of Nicholas II “Russia,” William II “Germany,” Franz Joseph I “Austria,” Emile Loubet “France,” Victor Emmanuel III “Italy,” and Alfonso XIII “Spain,” each with a broom, stand on a beach trying to sweep back the wave of “American Commerce” about to crash on their shores.
Comments and Context
This cartoon seems to depict old ladies duplicating the futile resolution of legendary King Canute, who attempted to command ocean waves to recede. In fact the women, representing leaders of world trade, with their brooms and mops, were familiar as “Mrs Partingtons” to readers in 1902. Lost in obscurity today, Mrs. Partington was a comic figure in text humor created by Benjamin Penshallow Shillaber of the Boston Post, and in reprint books. Allegedly his character was inspired by an invented character of the British critic Sydney Smith about a self-absorbed busybody who attempted to mop the Atlantic Ocean from her door during a storm. In Shillaber’s hands, Mrs. Partington became known for silly aphorisms, malaprops, and semi-logical pronouncements. When Shillaber died in 1890, his very famous character died with him, but eulogists declared they would live forever in American culture. The necessity of this explanation suggests the contrary. The main point of Pughe’s cartoon is that by 1902 the United States has become the world’s largest trading nation.
