Nor Any Drop to Drink

"He's Off Again" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Mar. 8, 1926

When you think of the 1920's, what comes to mind? A booming stock market? 

Attracting far too many to invest "on margin," the markets were inflated by investors borrowing against future profits. A sharp downturn in March of 1926 should have served as a warning of what was soon to come.

"His Nest Egg Hatches" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Mar. 20, 1926

The market suddenly lost billions of dollars — 1926 dollars, mind you — wiping out the savings of small investors like the one in Alley's cartoon. 

But Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon counseled calm. "The break does not touch fundamental conditions. It was the result of excessive speculation. I would have happened whatever business conditions were at the time. The effect is really wholesome. It provides a sort of 'evening up.'"

"Too Sound to Be Uprooted" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 4, 1926

Nelson Harding accepted the advice of Secretary Mellon, who continued, "If the market goes to far, it will get back again. All such movements go further than they should, until there is a reaction. There is action and reaction until they strike normal."

Harding's choice of a visual metaphor just goes to show how well Mr. Harding understood avalanches.

"Not Shaking the Mountain" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, ca. Mar. 11, 1926

The lessons against stock speculation are much easier to learn in hindsight. I can't claim any stock market expertise, either, so I don't charge these cartoons against Harding and Brown. 

But I can't figure out why Brown chose to label his Bulls and Bears, rather than to give them animal heads like any other cartoonist of the 20th Century would have.

"Dangit" by Ed LeCocq in Des Moines Register, March 13, 1926

Perhaps it's Prohibition that comes to your mind when you think of the 1920's.

Prohibition was a social reform movement that never quite took hold in the places where the social reformers saw the greatest need for social reform.

"Temptations" by Dean O'Dell in Dayton Daily News, March 18, 1926

Wets, as opponents of the Volstead Act were called, proposed in 1926 exempting beer and wine from Prohibition laws, reasoning that the cold turkey approach simply wasn't working. They also argued that the absence of legal liquor unintentionally benefited organized crime as it stepped in to fill the void.

"Now That's an Embarrassing Question" by Billy Ireland in Columbus Dispatch, ca. Mar. 12, 1926

Which brings us to Chicago gangsters.

As Billy Ireland suggested, Chicago's crime syndicates were taking advantage of a market for booze by Americans seeking to escape the enforced sobriety of the Volstead Act.

"Where There's a Will There's a Way" by James North in Washington [DC] Post, March 5, 1926

James North referred in this cartoon to the Chicago city motto, "I Will," adopted after its 1871 fire. His example of California vigilantism as a way to fight back against "lawlessness" seems counterproductive, if you ask me.

"There Was a Young Lady from Niger..." by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 4, 1926

The limerick Carey Orr cites as the parallel for how Chicago city hall had succumbed to organized crime has fallen out of favor among cartoonists. The suggestion of racism wasn't much of a factor; cartoonists tended to draw the young lady as a white person. Nor was it because nowadays Niger and Tiger don't rhyme; they didn't rhyme in 1926, either.

Nope, it's just one of those tropes that are too cliché.

Speaking of Chicago...

"Baiting Her Hooks for Her" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1926

"I Will" is on Miss Chicago's blouse in this Carey Orr cartoon commending Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover's endorsement of a plan for a nine-foot channel from Chicago to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. According to Mr. Hoover, the project would make every city on the Great Lakes a seaport.

"A Cheeky Theft" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Star, March 27, 1926

The Graphical History Tour has covered the Chicago waterway controversy before (see here). The project was strongly opposed by communities downstream, especially in Canada, where one rarely found Sam Hunter and Arthur Racey on the same side of an issue.

"Excellent Example" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Star, March 29, 1926

Hoover dismissed concern that diversion of Lake Michigan water south through Chicago would lower water levels in the natural flow of the lake's water to the St. Lawrence Seaway, claiming that five-sixths of the reduction already being experienced was due to a fluctuation in climate. The best way to settle the international lake level dispute, he told a Republican group in Chicago, would be to spend money on concrete and steel to regulate the water passing through Niagara Falls "instead of squandering it on lawyers."

•••

Well, folks, I hadn’t meant to end things right here, but a wind storm has apparently knocked out my internet service provider where I live, going on seven-plus hours as I write this, so I can’t upload any more graphic files to help wrap this up.

So have a pleasant respite between Friday the thirteenth and the Ides of March. Have some pi. See you when this all blows over.

Q Toon: Pillow Talk with Leo & Max

I introduce the characters of Leo and Max as a way of discussing issues that are not necessarily LGBTQ+centric for an LGBTQ+ readership, and also to represent the gulf separating Americans with liberal and MAGA world views.

Today —  or tonight as it happens — they are disagreeing over Trump and Netanyahu's war with Iran.

It's rather curious that after Pete Kegseth spent a year insisting that we return to calling the Department of Defense the Department of War, the Lawless Trump Regime™ doesn't want to call what the Department of War is sending war materiel and soldiers to a "war." Nah, it's a "special military operation," just like the one Russia has been sending war materiel and soldiers to in Ukraine for the past four years.

Whatever. The Department of Special Military Operations vows that unlike previous administrations' special military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, we're not in Iran to execute regime change (only to execute regime leaders). Although in the case of Afghanistan, we've seen Trump's idea of a successful end to a long, drawn out war: bring back the very same people our special military operation was supposed to have gotten rid of.

This time around, our special military operation assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, and also, according to Trump himself, "most of the people we had in mind" to succeed him. Trump has expressed his pique at not having had a say in the selection of Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba "Dubya" Khameini, who is probably holed up in the safest place from the Trumpster special military operation machine in Tehran: the Russian embassy.

Hardly anyone outside of Iran will shed a tear for the elder Khameini — for the 176 schoolgirls blown to smithereens by an American cruise missile, certainly — but it remains to be seen how his murder will play out within Iran's borders. Tehran's young, urban protesters have been no fans of his; but the poorly educated, rural peasants in the rest of the country were his MIGA faithful. 

To put it in terms Americans might understand: some Liberal Leos might have, at best, mixed feelings were Iran — or North Korea, or Cuba, or Grand Fenwick — to eliminate Trump, Vance, Mike Johnson, and much of the remaining order of succession. But all Leos and Maxes would be united in condemnation of any attack that included wiping out a girls' school and setting Texas oil refineries ablaze.

Nor would any of us ever accept those countries appointing our next head of state.

This Week's Sneak Peek

Before putting last Saturday's Graphical History Tour together, I had never heard the song "Aquarela do Brasil" sung with words.

What I found when looking up its lyrics were what someone wrote for Frank Sinatra to sing; Ary Barroso's original lyrics in Portuguese have nothing to do with S.K. Russell's lyrics about kissing under an amber moon. 

Brasil, meu Brasil Brasileiro,

Meu mulato inzoneiro,

Vou cantar-te nos meus versos:

O Brasil, samba que dá,

Bamboleio, que faz gingar;

O Brasil do meu amor,

Terra de Nosso Senhor. ...

Ô! Esse Brasil lindo e trigueiro,

É o meu Brasil Brasileiro!

Granted, a direct translation would never have sold in the States. I can't quite imagine Sinatra crooning of "This Brazil, beautiful and swarthy."

Then, Tomorrow Was Another Day

Today's Graphical History Tour checks out the international scene in March of 1926, which means that we won't be seeing much from U.S. cartoonists. The Yanks weren't particularly interested in the outside world just then, although that doesn't mean that there was nothing going on. 

"Was Haben Wir von dem Grösser Mannern" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

For one thing, world leaders were still trying to hammer out arms reduction agreements, in accoradance with the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Werner Hahmann here anticipated how the leaders of Italy, France, the U.S., Great Britain, U.S.S.R., and Germany would approach the summit (to use a term that came into use much later) about to get underway.

You should be familiar with Benito Mussolini and Calvin Coolidge, but Americans may not be familiar with the rest of these faces. Aristide Briand was Prime Minister of France off and on from 1909 to 1929; nobody warmed that seat for very long at a time in the 1920's. Austen Chamberlain was British Foreign Secretary, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate with Briand and Germany's Gustav Stresemann for negotiating the Locarno Treaty settling Germany's western border.

Georgy Chicherin was the U.S.S.R. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and I have no clue what Hahmann's reference to whistling was about. Chicherin, having been arrested in England for antiwar activity when Russia's October Revolution took place, promoted a pro-German, anti-British foreign policy; so I imagine that in spite of Kladderadatsch's opposition to communism, Hahmann regarded Chicherin as a relatively benign presence.

Hans Luther was Chancellor of Germany from January, 1925 to May, 1926. Kladderadatsch's cartoonists must not have found him particularly inspiring, since time and time again, all they could come up with for cartoons about him was to have him quote Martin Luther's famous "Here I stand" statement.

"That's a Good Idee" by Wm. A. Rogers in Washington [DC] Post, March 24, 1926

I'm including one U.S. cartoonist here, isolationist W.A. Rogers, depicting U.S. participation in disarmament talks as something eagerly sought by European powers. His Uncle Sam would consider coming along strictly as a favor. Why, his "national defense" was merely a toy!

"You Can't Always Tell by the Picture on the Packet" by Sidney Strube in London Daily Express, ca. Mar. 21, 1926

London cartoonist Sidney Strube drew Uncle Sam kibitzing over the fence at Europe, whose packet of Locarno lily seeds has produced some strange flowers. "Say! Bo! That's funny stuff you are growing!"

"Der Gute Bruder aus dem Westen" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

U.S. interest in the disarmament conference was disingenuous, in Hahmann's view. In this cartoon, Uncle Same brings to the table "Huge strengthening of the American air fleet" and "new travel loans for America's navy."

"Deutschland im Võlkerbund" by Ernst Schilling in Simplicissimus, Stuttgart, March 1, 1926

Over at Simplicissimus, Ernst Schilling saw plenty of disingenuousness to go around among the disarmament negotiators. I don't believe any of the characters on the right side of the cartoon are caricatures of actual delegates (with the possible exception of the very British looking chap in the foreground), but I think that the presumably German man on the left looking askance at the rest must be.

"Umtriebe" by Arthur Krüger in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

The fellow in the foreground of Kruger's cartoon represented Poland, as identified by the czapka on his head. The cap became a symbol of Polish independence after the war, and was adopted as cartooning shorthand for that country, as Michel and Marianne were for Germany and France.

At issue here was whether to admit Germany into the League of Nations (Völkerbund in German), which Poland and France opposed.

"Der Taufbeken in Genf" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 7, 1926

The feeling was mutual: Arthur Johnson was among Germans who were also highly skeptical of joining the League, especially if despised Poland were a member as well.

"Auf in den Völkerbund" by Wilhelm Schulz in Simplicissimus, Stuttgart, March 15, 1926

Wilhelm Schulz's cartoon depicts Mussolini and Poland (ach du lieber! a drunkard, too!) conspiring to sabotage Germany's seat at the League of Nations table.

"Polen Beansprucht einen Festen Sitz im Völkerbund" by Richter in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 21, 1926

The Polish position, rather, was that if Germany were to have a permanent seat in the League, so should Poland.

"Versuchtes, aber Mißglücktes Falschspiel in Genf" by Oskar Garvens in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 21, 1926

Poland had the support of both Great Britain (you'll notice that Chamberlain's King of Spades is wearing a czapka) and France, with treaties obliging both to come to its aid if attacked.  

"Mißglücktes Experiment" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, March 28, 1926

Poland was not the only country lobbying for a permanent League of Nations Seat. So were Brazil and Spain, the former of which was adamantly opposed to admitting Germany, earning it an especially grotesque characterization from Artie Johnson in this cover cartoon.

"Vorverkauf an der Kaffe in Genf" by Oskar Garvens in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 28, 1926

Oskar Garvens added China (and "War") to the waiting list in his cartoon. 

Cartoonists must have had little upon which to draw Brazilian stereotypes, in case the fourth fellow in line appears Mexican to you. Mexico repeatedly refused invitations to join the League of Nations until 1931.

"She Will Have to Get a New Canary Now" by Arthur Racey in Montreal Star, March 19, 1926

The Brazilian government would be gravely disappointed that Germany was admitted to the League and Brazil was not granted a permanent seat. Brazil quit the League later that year.

In A.G. Racey's cartoon, "European Peace" holds an empty birdcage bereft of its former occupant, "the Locarno Concord Canary." The Locarno Concord had been hailed as a great success at its December 1, 1925 signing by the great powers of western Europe (see the Graphic History Tour post here). I think that by asking "Whose cat are you, anyway?", Racey was taking into account that Brazil was not a party to the Locarno Concord.

"Endresultat" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 28, 1926

Agreeing with Racey's pessimism, Hahmann's cartoon quotes from the final stanzas of "Des Sängers Fluch" (The Singer's Curse) by Ludwig Uhland, set to music by Robert Schumann. In the poem, a pair of minstrels entertain a cruel king and his court, pleasing the queen but enraging the king, who kills the younger of the minstrels. The older minstrel levels a curse king which comes true: in the end, the king's once beautiful castle lies in ruins but for one lone, crumbling column, its king forgotten.

Everyone was not ready to write off the Locarno Treaties as a failure just yet, but they ultimately did prove inadequate to ensuring a lasting peace in Europe.

The treaties delineated Germany's western border, ceding Alsace-Lorraine to France, but did not settle disputed territories on Germany's eastern border with Poland. There were Polish enclaves on the west side of the Oder-Neisse line and Germans living on the east side of the rivers. Danzig/Gdansk was a further bone of contention: as part of Poland, it separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany; without it, Poland would be landlocked.

"Powerful Brazil" by Billy Ireland in Columbus Dispatch, March, 1926

But sure, you can just blame Brazil if you'd rather.

Or the bossa nova.

Q Toon: Not in Kansas Any More

Overriding their governor's veto, Kansas Republicans passed a law abruptly voiding the drivers' licenses of any and all transgender citizens of the Sunflower State. The Kansas law further invalidates birth certificates in which the gender marker has been changed.

AIRWAY, Kan. (KCTV) - Kansans are now required to list their sex at birth on their driver’s license under a new state law that has already rendered hundreds of IDs invalid.

Letters were sent to impacted drivers this week notifying them their licenses are no longer valid. ...

The law also prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property consistent with their gender identity. It allows someone suspected of being transgender and violating the law to be sued for up to $1,000.

Trans Kansans are required to surrender invalidated driver’s license to the state before they can receive a replacement that misidentifies their present gender (and I wouldn't be surprised if the new license were to deadname them as well).

There was no grace period, taking effect immediately upon passage. Transgender drivers had no time to comply with the law before losing their driving privileges. 

"People who have changed the gender marker are worried about being pulled over on the way to getting their new driver's license. They're stressed. Matthew Neumann is a transgender man in central Kansas. He leads a statewide LGBTQ mutual aid organization. You know, he's got a long beard, a bald head, and now, whenever he applies for a job or gets pulled over by police, his ID is going to out him as transgender, whether he likes it or not."

The new law, besides imposing penalties for driving without one's birth genitalia, effectively disenfranchises transgender voters; state law requires that voters present a state-issued, unexpired, photo ID to cast a ballot. 

Meanwhile, Texas has not gone so far as to revoke transgender citizens' driving licenses, but does prevent trans Texans from updating the gender marker on their driver's license or state ID; nor is there an "X" option for non-binary persons. Trans activists worried that the state's 2024 law would deter people from voting in Tuesday's primary. 

“Trans voters are left vulnerable to being outed, questioned, or turned away, which creates very real barriers to casting a ballot,” [Caleb Armstrong, a transmasculine Texan and co-founder of Local Queer Foundation] wrote in an email. “It is difficult to find accurate information about voting as a trans person, and for many, the fear of navigating the process is enough to keep folks from voting at all. This fear and confusion has a purpose in trying to silence our voices and keep trans people from participating fully in our democracy.”

As it turned out, more voters may have been deterred from voting simply by a change of the rules on where Dallas voters were supposed to go. Polls had to be kept open for two hours past the usual closing time, just to accommodate voters who went to their usual polling place only to be told they had to go somewhere else.

Even then, Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign is considering a lawsuit over the confusion.

All of which is an argument against constantly changing election rules.

Returning to the topic of this week's cartoon, two trans men from Lawrence, Kansas, have filed a lawsuit in Douglas County District Court to challenge the state's new law. The anonymous pair are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and a Philadelphia-based law firm. A hearing is scheduled tomorrow.

Toon: War Is Over If You Won It

Let me start off by saying that I have little patience for reporters, pundits, and politicians who want our military officials to tell them when a war that is impending or underway will be over.

That's not how war works. 

War is by its very nature out of control. The Pentagon generals, admirals, and think tanks can plan, contingency plan, strategize, and contingency strategize 24/7 until the cows come home; but, as we supposedly learned in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the enemy doesn't necessarily cooperate.

I watched most of the press conference by Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Dan Caine and Secretary of Defense, War, or Whatever We're Calling This Now Pete Hegseth, and I would have liked to see reporters ask what the goal of Operation Epstein Fuckery is, now that Iran's sclerotic leaders have been blown to smithereens.

Is it to wipe out Iran's defenses? To inspire the youth of Teheran to rise up and overthrow sharia law? Is it to install the highest bidder as viceroy and make Iranian oil production another wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Inc.?

Only time will tell. Hegseth certainly won't.

P.S.: Do not ask Ambassador Mike Huckabee.

This Week's Sneak Peek

As you can probably tell, I was not one of those boys who sat in the back of the class doodling cars on the cover of my notebooks.

No, I mostly doodled calligraphy, the Off™ bugs, and President Nixon.