Leap Day Toons 1920

February 29 falls on a Saturday only once every 28 years; so in honor of this magical occasion, Siderealback Saturday presents a collection of editorial cartoons that happened to run on Sunday, February 29, 1920.

"There's No Law Against Running for President" by Don Herold in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 29, 1920

Humorist Don Herold was equally at home drawing full-fledged cartoons such as this one, or providing illustrations to his own humor columns. From September 29, 1918 to July 11, 1920, he syndicated a Sunday strip nationally while working at the Indianapolis Star. The Star had stopped running this strip a month before this cartoon appeared, suggesting that the series was self-syndicated.

"Standing Room Only" by Jay N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, February 29, 1920

"Ding" Darling also commented on the crowded field of presidential candidates that day. The eventual winner, Warren Harding, is somewhat hidden toward the back; in spite of Darling's Republican sympathies, the cartoonist never warmed to isolationist candidate Harding. Darling's "Nonpartisan Public," for some reason, seems to be the happiest person on the train.

"The Old Story" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 29, 1920

Speaking of trains: President Wilson had just signed legislation on February 28 returning the railroads, taken over by the government during the war, to private ownership.

"Here's Your Junk..." by Frederick Boyd Stevenson in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 29, 1920

Frederick Stevenson was another writer who dabbled in cartooning. I would differentiate him from Don Herold in that Herold did more than "dabble" in cartooning (but doesn't seem to have kept up any comic title for more than a few years at a time). Furthermore, Stevenson wasn't a humorist in his writing and lecturing at all; illustrating his full-page opinion pieces was often done by one of the Eagle's other artists.

"I Certainly Hate to See Him Go" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, February 29, 1920

Interior Secretary Franklin Lane resigned effective at the end of February, so Clifford Berryman drew this fond send-off for him. Canadian-born Lane oversaw construction of the first Alaskan public railway; previous railroads in the territory were privately owned. He also saw a bill regulating oil and coal lands become law at end of his service, so it's somewhat ironic that he went on to work for the oil company that would be the center of the Teapot Dome scandal (although he died well before that scandal broke).

Another cabinet member to leave in February was Secretary of State Robert Lansing. Wilson was angered to learn that Lansing had urged Vice President Marshall to assume presidential duties after Wilson's stroke in September, 1919. It may or may not have been the First Lady who forced Lansing out of office, depending which historian you ask; either way, when Lansing offered his resignation on February 12, the President accepted it.

"Really a Most Remarkable Exhibition..." by Fred Morgan in Philadelphia Inquirer, February 29, 1920

The gravity of Wilson's condition was public knowledge by this time, and so were the reasons for Lansing's resignation. Still, President Wilson must have been healthy enough for a stalwart Republican cartoonist like Fred Morgan to safely criticize the President's "egotism" and "autocracy" as he skated away with Uncle Sam's "U.S. People's Prerogative" hat. The hole in the ice is labeled "League of Nations."

"Proof of Life After Death" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, February 29, 1920

John McCutcheon comments on New Jersey's new, anti-Prohibition Governor, Democrat Edward Edwards. Edwards and his cohorts bring a pulmotor to John Barleycorn's grave and strain to listen for signs of life: "What Does He Say?" asks an aide. Edwards reports, "He says he wants to get into politics."

"Posing for the Allies" by Edwin Marcus in New York Times, February 29, 1920

Turning to foreign affairs: cartoonists had finally figured out what Vladimir Lenin looked like. The New York Times cartoonist put Lenin and Trotsky in this parody of Raphael's putti cherubs. Hidden behind their facade are "Loot," "World Revolution," and a dead female.

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank O. King in Chicago Tribune, February 29, 1920

As long as we're here, I'll take note that by this point, Frank King's "Gasoline Alley" had become a stand-alone comic strip, now independent of his full-page "The Rectangle" feature. "The Rectangle" was discontinued two weeks earlier, along with Sundays' separate editorial section, which it had fronted. "Gasoline Alley" hadn't yet migrated to the color comics section of the Tribune, running instead across the top of page 13, section 7, the start of the Automobile news and advertising pages.