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“Britannia” stands on the left, holding “Concessions to Ireland,” and “Hibernia” stands on the right in a militant pose. Between them is a nasty looking man with two “Dynamite” bombs slung over his shoulders.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1884-06-11
A blind man labeled “Democracy,” with the features of an Irishman, walks toward an abyss labeled “Defeat,” carrying a cane labeled “Vacillation,” and holding on to a leash tied to a dog with the face of, and labeled, “Carlisle.” The man has a large bass fiddle strapped to his back and, in a bag, lyrics to the “Standard Oil Co. Melody.” On the ground at his feet is sheet music for the song “Turn the Rascals Out.” Behind him, pointing in the opposite direction, is a sign for the “Road to Tariff Reform,” which leads to the United States Capitol.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1884-01-16
A Jewish man dressed as Mars, the Roman god of war, and decorated with symbols of money, stands in the doorway of a munitions store labeled “Marsheim Bellonaberg & Co.” and “Ordnance Dept.” A notice posted on the side states “War Loans a Speciality” and a sign reads “By Appointment to H.I.M. the Czar & Mikado – Cash Vobiscum.”
Ehrhart’s cartoon smacks of anti-Semitism to contemporary eyes, but it uses the age-old stereotype of Jewish money-lenders as a stick with which to beat England and English banks. As Russia and Japan bled each other dry in their war, the English, as money-lenders to “the Czar and the Mikado” respectively, profited off both. The British made loans at high interest, and sold munitions similarly.
A dozen years later, the tables were turned when the United States and its banks of Morgan and other houses virtually financed the carnage of the Great War — all sides of the conflict, all parties. It was widely charged that such war profiteering, including windfalls of manufacturing, arms, and shipping, were reasons that American refrained from joining World War I as long as it did.
Two Irishmen talk in the street of a rural community. The son of one is taking music lessons, to the annoyance of the other, as well as the neighbors. Caption: Hogan — I suppose ye’ve heard me lad, Terry? He do be takin’ lissons on th’ clary-o-nit. / Ryan — He might betther be takin’ lissons on the sthame-dhrill. It’ud be more useful t’ him an’ a dom sight more soothin’ t’ the neighbors.
Walter Gallaway was one of Puck‘s cartoonists who virtually never drew a political cartoon or a caricature of a person in the news; he devoted himself to humor cartoons, mostly single-panel, and many with ethnic figures. He also moonlighted during the first years of the century, drawing cartoons and strips (one-shots, not recurring characters) for the Sunday color comic supplement of the New York Herald.
Illustration showing two Irishmen discussing a portrait of George Washington. Caption: Clancy. — I wonder whoi Washington wore a pigtail? Casey. — Sure, oi dunno! Mebby Chinamin hod votes in thim days!
The social references of 1900 occasionally require explication. Cartoonists and humorists of that era often depicted Irish immigrants as being unschooled and slow-witted. The greatest numbers of Irish immigrants to America came in the 1840s and between 1900 and 1910. The “pigtail” the characters in this cartoon observe on General Washington is linked in their minds to “Chinamen,” as many Chinese immigrants to the United States still wore pigtails, sandals, and gowns — all iconic to cartoonists. The caption’s reference (“Celestial”) refers to the Celestial Empire, or Tianchao, names for China then common in the West.
Hosea Ballou Morse believes the war has been a success for Japan and that Port Arthur will soon fall. He argues that there are three salient points to consider about Japan, including Japan’s ties to the feudal system and the nature of the Japanese people. Morse discusses “the yellow peril,” speculating about the motives of Japan and what will happen after the war.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-07