Tammany Hall

Poor Tammany!

The Tammany Tiger, in ragged clothes, wears a campaign button that states “16 to 1 Bryan and Sewall” and a watch chain with a “Pawn Ticket” instead of the watch. The tiger bemoans the fact that the Republican Party platform promises “Prosperity for the Laborer and the Business Man” and “Prosperity for the Farmer” and the Democratic Party platform promises “Prosperity for Labor and Business.” The tiger gestures toward campaign banners, hanging in the background, for “McKinley and Hobart” and “Bryan and Sewall.” Caption: They’re all goin’ to git Prosperity, an’ I’m goin’ to git left!

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-11-04

We despise him for the friends he has made

William Jennings Bryan rides on the shoulders of the “Tammany” Tiger, carrying a banner that states “Repudiation and National Dishonor.” Accompanying him are, on the left, John Peter “Altgeld” holding a torch burning “Arnachism” [sic] and, on the right, Benjamin R. “Tillman” with a patch labeled “S.C. Primaries” over one eye and holding a pitchfork that appears to be soiled with manure.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1896-10-14

The right man for mayor of greater New York

Puck as Diogenes carries a lantern and a lithographic pen and seeks the perfect mayor for New York City. At center Puck gets the opinion of “The Republican Machine” (Thomas Collier Platt with the tail and ears of a fox) and “Tammany” Hall (Richard Croker with the tail and ears of the Tammany Tiger). In the surrounding vignettes, he hears the opinions of “The Sunday Closers” who respect the Sabbath, “The Reformers” who seek “a man of the highest ideals … and irreproachable character!” and have “Seth Low” at the top of their list, as well as “The Germans” and “The Bicyclers,” before returning to the “Office of Puck,” somewhat dismayed. Caption: Diogenes Puck starts out to find him, and gets a lot of varied information on the subject.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-07-04

Let boss Platt beware

An angry Father Knickerbocker, symbolic figure of New York City, performs a feat of strength by breaking chains that bind his arms and chest. The broken chains spell “Raines Law” and “Hayseed Legislation.” Caption: Father Knickerbocker is in training for this “Sandow Act” (referring to similar feats of strength by bodybuilder Eugen Sandow).

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-06-09

“Accept me, or I’ll let loose the tiger!!!”

Thomas C. “Boss Platt,” adorned with a ribbon of “Patronage Deals,” holds back a hungry tiger labeled “Tammany,” threatening a female figure holding a shield labeled “Greater New York.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-06-02

He never could stand prosperity

A “Hayseed” legislator wearing a hat labeled “N.Y. Republican Party” sits in a stupor on a large jug labeled “Raines Law,” holding a large wine bottle labeled “Hayseed Legislation.” He is slumped against a wall labeled “Albany,” with a bottle of alcohol at his feet labeled “Progressive Inheritance Tax,” and a bottle in his coat pocket labeled “Black’s Civil Service Bill.” The figure may represent Frank Swett Black, governor of New York. A man wearing a cap labeled “Tammany” is pulling papers labeled “Greater New York Patronage” from inside the coat of the legislator.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-05-26

They will dine in honor of Jefferson

Print shows three men: on the left, David B. Hill labeled “Peanut Politics,” at center is Richard Croker wearing a hat labeled “To the Victor Belong the Spoils,” and on the right, William Jennings Bryan labeled “16 to 1.” They are walking together, arm-in-arm.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1899-04-12

William Tell Cleveland will not bow to the hat

Grover Cleveland, as William Tell, holds the hand of Franklin Edson, as his son, striding past a hat labeled “Tammany” perched atop a stick labeled “Ignorant Voters” around which Samuel S. Cox, Thomas F. Grady, Hubert O. Thompson, Francis B. Spinola, and others bow down. On the left, an enraged John Kelly sits on a donkey, commanding soldiers carrying a banner labeled “Board of Aldermen.” In the background, on the right, standing beneath a sign that states “Regular Democracy,” are a group of men that includes Samuel J. Tilden, William R. Grace, Abram S. Hewitt, and Edward Cooper.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-05-16

Another one gone wrong

John Kelly, dressed as a woman, threatens New York City Mayor Franklin Edson with a stick labeled “N.Y. Board of Aldermen” and points toward jars on a shelf, containing former Mayors Edward Cooper and William R. Grace. Kelly has another stick labeled “N.Y. Legislature” tied behind his back. Caption: New York’s Mistress – “Want a new charter, do you? Take care, or I’ll put you up there with the others!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-02-21

The new Democratic eucalyptus tree purifies a political morass

Grover Cleveland is pictured as a large tree labeled “Eucalyptus Clevelandus” with roots labeled “Honor” and “Honesty,” and branches that spread over swamp land from which rise gaseous ghosts labeled “Stupidity, K. K. K., Bourbonism, Butlerism, Dynamiter, Kellyism, Ward Bossism, [and] Spoils System.” In the background is a large building labeled “Democratic Head-Quarters.” Caption: The eucalyptus tree has recently been introduced into marshy and malarious regions, where it acts as a purifier of the atmosphere, driving away the deadly miasmatic vapors.–Encyclopaedia.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-08-27

Edison’s fix

Franklin Edson lies on a dirt path labeled “Road to Honest Government,” hanging onto the tails of two hogs going in the opposite direction, one with the face of John Kelly, labeled “Tammany,” and the other labeled “County Dem.” wearing pince-nez labeled “H.O.T.” In the background is a road sign labeled “To Tammany Bossism” and “To County Bossism,” with New York City in the distance. Caption: He had better let them both go.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1883-01-03

Richelieu’s defiance

President Cleveland, as Cardinal Richelieu, embraces a young woman labeled “Civil Service” as he is confronted by a group of courtiers labeled “Manning, Barnum, C. S. Blackburn, [and] Hendricks”, also John Kelly and a man identified as “Party Boss.” Manning holds a paper that states “Bad Appointments – Higgins, Pillsbury, Troup, [and] Chase.” Includes text by “Manning-Baradas” and “Cleveland-Richelieu.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-05-06

Barred out from the promised land

A group of Tammany “Ward” workers and men identified as “J. R. McLean, Grady, H. O. Thompson, Spinola, [Alexander V.] Davidson, H. McLaughlin, [and a] Chicago Boss,” along with Charles A. Dana and John Kelly stand on a mountain overlooking the United States Capitol. All are wearing top hats that emit rays of light (Kelly is stomping on his hat with his left foot) as if all are Moses. They are disappointed office seekers who feel they should have been rewarded by the Cleveland administration. A large broken tablet on the ground is labeled “Old Commandments – Thou shalt divide up the spoils.” Banners atop the Capitol, “Interior Depart[ment], Treasury U.S., [and the] White House,” state “A Government for the People not for Politicians, Reform Administration, Civil Service Reform, No Removals except for Cause.” This last banner is probably in reference to the recent removal of Capt. George B. Bacon in favor of George H. Sterling for government weigher at the New York Custom House, an action that was reversed pending investigation. Caption: Disappointed Democratic Moses – “Was it worth going through so much to get so little?”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-04-01

The issue

John Kelly holds a shillelagh in one hand and a rope tied to an injured tiger labeled “Tammany” with bandages labeled “1880, 1882, [and] 1884” in the other, standing outside the “White House” gate. Grover Cleveland stands on the other side of the wall, holding a rifle. A sign posted on the wall states, “Resolved that – Tammany Hall recommends to the attention of the Presidents the prominent members of this organization as worthy of recognition in selection for public service. March 13th.” Caption: John Kelly – “What say you – Peace or War?” / Cleveland – “War, Johnny, war!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-03-25

Escaping from the old shell

Print shows a moth or butterfly labeled “N.Y. County Democracy” with bust portraits of Lucius Robinson, Abram S. Hewitt, Samuel J. Tilden, and Clarkson N. Potter on the wings; it has just emerged from a pupa labeled “Tammany” with the face of John Kelly, and is flying toward a flower blossom labeled “1884”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-11-02

Gone to meet John Kelly

Print shows Hugh McLaughlin with a label that states “Boss McLaughlin Hades”, thrown from a pitchfork labeled “Resignation” toward John Kelly who is roasting on a grill over flaming coals in “Hades”.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-11-09

“A sail! A sail!!”

A woman labeled “Dem. Party” reclines on the rocky coast of a deserted island. Nearby is an empty jug labeled “Bourbonism the Only Subsistence for 16 Years (1860-76)” and a broken cask labeled “For 8 Years (1876-84) Sustained Life on the Fraud Issue.” She has sighted a ship labeled “Independent Republicans” headed her way. John Kelly, dressed like an Indian, is creeping over rocks on the right. He holds a bow labeled “Tammany” in one hand and an arrow labeled “Deal” in the other, and he wears a medallion around his neck labeled “J.K.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-02

With Puck’s compliments to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago – 1884

Puck holds a portrait of Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Opposed to Kelly 1876 – Carried New York by 32,000 Votes” and a portrait of Winfield Scott Hancock labeled “Supported by Kelly 1880 – Beaten in New York by 21,000 Votes.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-07-09

Puck’s perplexing position – between two evils

Print shows Puck standing between John Kelly, on the left, in front of “Tammany Hall,” holding a flag that states “Down with the Bloated Monopolists!!”, he has F.B. Thurber in his coat pocket, and on the right, Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, and Cyrus W. Field as large money bags labeled “$”, standing in front of the “Monopoly Telegraph Co.” and the “Monopoly R.R.” A signpost, pointing to the left, states “To Anti-Monopolyville” and pointing to the right, “To Monopolyville.” Puck indicates that he would like to be an anti-monopolist, but not the John Kelly type. Caption: Puck “Well, I want to be an anti-monopolist; but not if that is one!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1881-10-12

Puck’s pyrotechnics – Fourth-of-July fireworks free to all

Print shows a fireworks display with Puck bowing on a stage in front of a “Fan Light” featuring the likenesses of William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and Jay Gould; on stage with Puck is a hand holding a smoldering torch which may represent Bartholdi’s hand and torch from the Statue of Liberty. On the left is a pagoda labeled “Puck Office” and on the right is a building labeled “Tammany Hall.” Among the fireworks are many faces of politicians and other prominent figures of the day, some labeled by type of firework, such as “Chicago Shower” – Arthur, Grant, Conkling, Logan and Cameron; “Tumbler” – Tilden; “Twister” – Schurz; “The Falling Tammany Star” – Kelly; “Bomb” – Davis; “Junk Whizzler” – Robeson; “Polar Rocket” – Bennett; “Buster” – Butler; and “Star Route Staggerer” – Dorsey. Others shown are James G. Blaine, Henry Ward Beecher, Elizabeth Tilton(?), Thomas De Witt Talmage, and Theodore Tilton.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1882-07-05