Keep the Dents in Presidents' Day

Hey, kids! Let's get our Presidents' Day holiday weekend off to a roaring start with some 100-year-old cartoons celebrating the Father Of Our Country!

"Washington Still Lives" by Robert L. Ripley in New York Globe, Feb. 22, 1922

If Washington still lives, someone had better tell Uncle Sam. Because I don't think he's still decorating for Christmas.

And yes, that cartoonist is the Ripley of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" fame. "Believe It Or Not" started out as an occasional diversion from Ripley's sports cartoons for the New York Globe; this tribute to George Washington is another.

"February 22, 1922" by Clifford Berryman for Evening Star, Washington DC, February 22, 1922

Hanging a sketch of our first president where it blocks Uncle Sam's view of the seas ahead doesn't seem to me to be the brightest idea in the world; but as long as Captain Sam can see the horizon, I guess that's where anything that might be in the way is likely to turn up. 

It might be a nuisance when trying to navigate by the stars, however.

"If His Dad Could Only See Him Now" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., February 22, 1922

Okay, let's get serious. (As George Washington once said, "I cannot tell a joke.") Dorman Smith was pretty pleased with how the Republicans were running things in Washington D.C., so he celebrated the fact that, unlike Europe, the U.S. hadn't been ravaged by war in 57 years. 

Nelson Harding, on the other hand, used Washington's birthday to comment on domestic legislation to grant a bonus to U.S. World War I veterans. The bonus itself was hugely popular, but the issue of how to pay for it had the bill hung up in Congress, and it failed to pass.

"Washington (D.C.)" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 22, 1922

When Congress made Washington's Birthday a national holiday in 1971, they managed to schedule it on a Monday that is never on his actual birthday, either Julian or Gregorian. Some people urged that the holiday be named Presidents' Day in order to include Abraham Lincoln, a name change that quickly become commonly accepted, in spite of not being the official name Congress gave to the third Monday in February. 

So here are some cartoons commemorating Abraham Lincoln on his 113th birthday, starting with some meticulous trompe l'oeil by the great Winsor McCay:

"Lest We Forget" by Winsor McCay for Star Publising, February 12, 1922

I'll follow that with a Lincoln cartoon from Leo Bushnell, like Nelson Harding, using a dead president's birthday to comment on paying bonuses to Great War veterans. 

"His Words Are as Apt Now As in '65" by Leo Bushnell for Central Press Assn., Feb. 12, 1922

The image of young Abe Lincoln studying in a log cabin by candle light has always been attractive for story-tellers, so it is hardly surprising that cartoonists would draw youngsters studying Mr. Lincoln in turn:

"Lincoln" by Magnus Kettner for Western Newspaper Union, February 22, 1922

Besides, they didn't have Doris Kearns Goodwin to draw studying Old Abe back then. She, by the way, has a 3-episode series about Lincoln coming up on the History Channel next week.

"Handicapped" by Gaar Williams in Chicago Tribune, February 22, 1922

And finally, a cartoon that is a little off topic today, except for that pissed-off portrait on the wall:

"The Interloper" by William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, ca. Feb. 24, 1922

I don't suppose Mr. Morris would have cared for this year's Superbowl halftime show, either. Or, for that matter, any of the other shows since Al Hirt, Doc Severensen, and Lionel Hampton got Tulane Stadium groovin' in 1970.

Well, that's all the festivity I can offer you this early on a Saturday morning. But if you're stretching your own Presidents' Day celebration all the way from here to Tues. 2/22/22, enjoy your 2²-day holiday weekend!