Surprise

A young woman walks arm in arm with a rabbit carrying a basket of Easter eggs. A tonsured monk standing in the background is startled by what he sees.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Humor magazines of the day frequently published Easter issues or focused on seasonal themes which were seldom religious in nature. In this case, either a dreaded Lenten sacrifices, or the end of such strictures. Cartoonist L. M. Glackens was beginning his role as a major staff member on Puck at this time. After a decade drawing magazine cartoons, he entered the nascent animated-cartoon field. His brother William Glackens was a member of “The Eight,” or the “Ashcan School,” major Post-Impressionist and Naturalist schools of American art.

Theodore Roosevelt tells H. J. Hammond it is not possible to answer his question.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-02-22

William H. Taft stands in a large room at the White House looking shocked. All the furnishings, from animal skin rugs to lamp shades, andirons to woodcarvings and the faces in paintings, wall trim and moldings to embroidered chairs, show the countenance of Theodore Roosevelt.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The Executive Mansion (first formally called the White House under President Roosevelt) underwent many expansions and renovations through the years, especially after invading British troops burned it during the War of 1812. Major alterations were ordered by Roosevelt shortly after he assumed the presidency. Modernizations included the trappings of Victorian furnishing and decoration of that era, especially ordered by Chester A. Arthur; and expansion was designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White, as the West Wing.

The U.S. Senate chamber is reduced to pandemonium when a Senate Page announces the unexpected arrival of “Investigators Lexow and Goff.” Among the senators scrambling for cover are Arthur P. Gorman, Matthew S. Quay, Calvin S. Brice, Edward Murphy Jr., and George F. Hoar. Caption: The awful scene that would ensue if investigators Lexow and Goff should unexpectedly appear in the U.S. Senate chambers.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1894-06-27

The horrified ghost of “Charles V” observes Práxedes M. Sagasta filling an oil lamp labeled “Spanish Honor” from a container labeled “Bombast.” The lamp sits on the “Map of Spain” on top of a small table. Caption: Shade of Charles V – Is that all that is left of my sun that never set on Spanish soil?

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1898-06-15

A young boy shows his younger siblings a Santa Claus suit in a wardrobe to convince them that Santa Claus does not exist.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-12-24

Four elderly men and two elderly women watch a fashionably dressed young woman as she walks down the sidewalk.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-10-15

A group of men make a surprise nighttime visit to Theodore Roosevelt, wearing pajamas, at Oyster Bay. Edward Henry Harriman carries a basket of lemons, James Roscoe Day carries a basket of “More Lemons,” Bellamy Storer carries a cake labeled “From Dear Maria” (his wife Maria Longworth Storer), Benjamin R. Tillman carries a watermelon, Chester I. Long carries a platter of “Welsh Rabbit” (possibly a reference to Herbert Welsh), and Joseph W. Bailey carries a bunch of bananas. Joseph Benson Foraker stands in the background, tipping his hat to Roosevelt.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon by Udo J. Keppler is an excellent summary for historians — and prescient commentary at the time — that despite President Roosevelt’s popularity throughout the United States, in 1907 he had a handful of nagging problems, a host of political opponents, and many looming challenges.