Sphinxes (Mythology)

In one vignette, David B. Hill jumps into a “Wolfert’s Roost” tree with a sign that reads, “I really couldn’t wait until Jan. 1.” In the second, “the silent voter” sphinx shouts, “Roosevelt!” from a megaphone as Alton B. Parker runs away. In a third vignette, Chair of the Republican National Committee George B. Cortelyou tells Chair of the Democratic National Committee Thomas Taggart, “Kindly make allowances for me, Tom, as this was my first campaign.” In the fourth, President Roosevelt looks at a Republican elephant who holds a scroll that reads, “339 + electoral votes.” The elephant says, “Theodore, you’ve established a hard record for me to keep up with.” In the fifth, Henry Gassaway Davis opens a fence as West Virginia Senator Stephen B. Elkins rushes toward him and says, “Welcome home, pop!” In the sixth, Williams Jennings Bryan looks at a piecemeal donkey and says, “I guess there’s enough to work on.” In the seventh, “Southern democracy” looks at the shoes of “Northern democracy” stuck in a snowdrift and says, “Nothin’ but de feet!” In the eighth, Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon looks through binoculars and says, “Wanted! A few minority members for House committees.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-13

Creator(s)

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949

William Jennings Bryan, on his knees, appeals to a sphinx with the face of former president Grover Cleveland.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1900-10-17

Alton B. Parker with a head shaped like a sphinx holds a telegram to William F. Sheehan in which he discusses the gold standard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-12

Creator(s)

Davenport, Homer, 1867-1912

A number of men in the Democratic Party march forward: Grover Cleveland with his fishing rod, William Randolph Hearst with a small bag of money, William Jennings Bryan with a “Lincoln Neb.” drum, Alton B. Parker with the face of a sphinx, David B. Hill, Charles Francis Murphy, and George B. McClellan, who rides a Tammany tiger.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-30

Creator(s)

Davenport, Homer, 1867-1912

This image depicts two sphinx-like figures, one with the head of Theodore Roosevelt, and the other with the head of William Jennings Bryan. Beneath these figures stand two figures representing the two main political parties holding their hats in their hands, along with question marks. This is likely in reference to the influence that both men held in their respective parties, and the lingering questions of who they would endorse (or indeed, if they would run for the presidency themselves).

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912

Creator(s)

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949

Uncle Sam, holding a paper labeled “Political Guide,” rides on a camel being led by Puck through the “City of Silence,” past several silent sphinxes labeled “Tom Reed, Allison, McKinley, Morton, [and] Harrison.” Includes dialogue between Uncle Sam and Puck that tells how these rulers were turned to stone for being unable to answer the currency question. Caption: Scene–The City of Silence in the Land of G.O.P., ferninst the Great Political Desert. – Enter Uncle Sam with Puck, his Dragoman.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1895-07-31

Creator(s)

Taylor, Charles Jay, 1855-1929

Puck stands on wooden scaffolding in front of the bow of a huge new battleship in dry dock with a large sphinx on the deck between the big guns.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-04-27

Creator(s)

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956

Charles Evans “Hughes” appears as a sphinx labeled “Senate” and “Assembly” in a desert at night, with a donkey and an elephant standing in the foreground. Several presidential candidates stand on the left, including Joseph Gurney Cannon, William H. Taft, and Charles W. Fairbanks. They are straining to hear some words from the sphinx.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1908-01-01