Klanwatch 1923

It is African-American History Month again. Having spent the last two weeks dwelling on foreign affairs 100 years ago, it's high time to turn to domestic affairs — particularly, the growth of the Ku Klux Klan.

"A Blot on the Escutcheon" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. Jan. 3, 1923

We'll start with a Klan lynching that attracted national media attention — quite possibly because the victims were white.

In August 1922, members of the Ku Klux Klan tortured and killed Filmore Watt Daniels and Thomas Fletcher Richards. (Some accounts omit "s" at the end of both last names; I'm using the names from contemporary newspaper reports.) Daniels was the adult son of a wealthy landowner in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, a town near the Arkansas border; he and his father were vocal opponents of the Klan. Richards, a mechanic, was a good friend of the younger Daniels.

The Danielses, father and son, were returning home with Richard and two others from a ballgame in nearby Bastrop when they were stopped by heavily armed, black-hooded men. The five were blindfolded and abducted to a remote site where they were whipped and beaten for information on the location of another person. Their captors released the elder Daniels and the other two men; but the younger Daniels and Richards were tortured and killed, and their bodies dumped in Lake Lafourche. 

"When Klanhood Was in Flower" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dec. 28, 1922

After their bodies were discovered on December 22, Louisiana Governor John M. Parker sought help from the U.S. Department of Justice in suppressing Klan violence within the state.

"A Blot on the Old Man's Journal" by Dennis McCarthy in New Orleans Times Picayune, ca. Dec. 29, 1922

If the meaning of Times Picayune cartoonist Dennis McCarthy's December 29 cartoon left any doubt what sort of "mob violence" was a blot on Old Man 1922's journal, his front page cartoon on January 9 was explicit.

"Explain This" by Dennis McCarthy in New Orleans Times Picayune, ca. Jan. 9, 1923

Reaction by members of the Klan differ from that depicted by McCarthy, according to the Shreveport Times, of January 7: 

Publication of the membership of the Morehouse klan 34 Knights of the Ku Klux Klan excited only passing interest here. Most of the charter and later membership were already known. The list included many of the many of the best-known and most substantial business and professional men, farmers, and officials of the parish. And the most pungent comment regarding it was, "why didn't they print the whole list, I felt slighted because they didn't have my name."

Prominent in the list was the name of J. Fred Carpenter, who happens to be the sheriff of Morehouse. The sheriff does not appear to be bothered that anyone should know he is a klansman.

"Resign?" he was asked.

"Not yet."

"Going to?"

"I hadn't thought of it." 

"Mer Rouge (Red Sea)" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 7, 1923

Other klansmen unmasked by the probe included a former mayor, the district attorney, the local postmaster, and a town marshal. The testimony of former klansman "Big Jim" Norsworthy exposed several locals as members, but in the end proved to be more flash than fire.

Meanwhile, Captain J.K. Skipworth, "exalted cyclops of the Morehouse klan" held court outside the courthouse to make sure that the media and anyone else in the vicinity could hear his opinion of the goings on inside.

There were klansmen in the grand jury, too. As a result, kidnapping and murder charges against named klansmen were dropped for "insufficient evidence." Even the minor charges against 17 men were dropped while the accused sheltered themselves out of state. 

By the end of 1923, the judge in the case had lost his reelection bid, and Governor Parker had retired.

"His Own Property" by Rollin Kirby in New York World, before Jan. 26, 1923

At the same time that investigative hearings were underway in Louisiana, a White mob burned the predominantly Black city of Rosewood, Florida, to the ground on January 8, 1923. Six Black Americans and two White rioters were killed. and the rest of the city's population fled by train.

"With Loose Rein" by Rollin Kirby in New York World before Feb. 4, 1923

As was usually the case in these pogroms, a White woman claimed that she had been assaulted by a Black man. The assault allegedly occurred on New Year's Day; enraged White mobs, bolstered by a Klan rally in nearby Gainesville, descended on Rosewood on January 4.

White mobs sought out one suspected Black man, then another, then turned their rage against the whole town. First setting fire to churches, they then began setting fire to homes and shooting at the residents as they tried to flee. White merchant John Wright sheltered some people in his home; others hid in the swamps outside of town.

Anonymous (Watson?), for Watson Studio, in Baltimore Afro-American, Feb. 23, 1923

One Black resident, Sylvester Carrier, shot back at the mob, killing two White rioters before being shot and killed himself. The news got even more White Floridians joining the mob. Governor Cary Hardee offered to send in the National Guard, but Sheriff Robert E. Walker claimed to have the situation under control. When the riot finally came to an end on January 7, the entire town had been destroyed. 

It will come as no surprise that although a grand jury was convened in February, 1923, nobody was ever charged with a crime of any kind in the Rosewood massacre. Nor will you be shocked to hear that it wasn't until 76 years later that any of the survivors received any compensation for their losses.

As for the nation's editorial cartoonists, when it came to addressing current events from their drawing boards, white riots and klan terrorism were just one issue out of many.

"The Three (Dis)Graces" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. Jan. 24, 1923

Even though these were only two klan/mob attacks among over 50 of them in 1922, many of the nation's cartoonists never even broached the subject at all in January or February, or at least never got an idea past their editors. On the other hand, every single editorial cartoonist at some point in January put out at least one cartoon satirizing Emile Coue's mantra of "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." (Coue was the Stuart Smalley of his day.)

✍

When your humble scribe started writing this essay several days ago, Blogger, the host of this site, began posting the following notice at the top of my post list screen:

I can't say whether Blogger's content monitoring bots flagged this week's essay as possible hate speech, or if Blogger management is cowering in fear of southern Republican politicians who have been cracking down on history lessons that make bigots feel bad.

To those of you brave enough to click past whatever content warning Blogger threw up at you, thank you.

Happy New Year

 ...from Andy and Min Gump!

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum new year's card this year features the first two rows of Sidney Smith's "The Gumps" for Sunday, December 31. Since your humble scribe highlighted Andy Gump's first run for Congress back in November, I'm passing this 100-year-old greeting on.

I don't have the full-color resources that they have at the BICL&M, but here's the rest of that day's "The Gumps," anyway.

P.S.: I'd been saving this Denver Post front page for years thinking I would use it at the end of 2022, then forgot all about it.

"'Bout Time to Turn Over a New Leaf" by A. Wilbur Steele in Denver Post, Dec. 30, 1922

Well, it's a shame to waste it, so here it is.

Meanwhile, in Non-Gump Election News

"Keeping to the Main Highway" by Gustavo Bronstrup in San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 9, 1922

I hope you enjoyed our recounting the past two Saturdays of Andy Gump's election to Congress and the recount that took his victory away. But it's time now to get serious and to catch up on what really happened in the off-year election of 1922.

Gustavo Bronstrup, with a nod to the initially victorious Mr. Gump, celebrates the Republican sweep in California that year. Friend Richardson was elected Governor and Hiram Johnson was reelected Senator, both by landslides. (Ironically, Richardson, supported by a Republican majority in the legislature, would proceed to undo several policies enacted when Johnson had been Governor.) 

The Proposition 19 straw man fallen off the back of the car represents a defeated constitutional amendment that would have granted the governor authority to create and fund a board to develop, distribute and fix rates for water and electrical energy.

"Nearly Everybody in the House Knew..." by John Knott in Galveston Daily News, Nov. 10, 1922

The California results ran counter to the national trend that year, however: Democrats gained 72 seats in House and a net gain of six seats in the Senate. 

"Shrinkage? It's a Washout" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 9, 1922

The Democrats' gain was not quite enough to regain the majority lost in the elections of 1918 and 1920, but was an impressive showing nonetheless, and set off a wave of prognostication as to where the Republican Party had gone wrong.

"Now We'll Hear the Specialists" by Edwin Marcus in New York Times, Nov. 12, 1922

One of Edwin Marcus's "specialists" is an "anti-prohibitionist" who doesn't look anything like the Mr. Dry used by every other cartoonist of the time (see John Cassel, below). That may well be because Mr. Dry looks more like an undertaker than a doctor; but it leaves me suspecting that Marcus had everything drawn before the election results were in but the labels and the elephant head.

"After the Downpour" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, Nov. 10, 1922

To the extent that Republicans were hurt by the "wet" vote, it was primarily because they happened to have more incumbents in office than the Democrats did in 1922. Prohibition sentiments pro and con crossed party lines; support for the 18th Amendment included both conservative Southern Democrats and northern progressive Republicans. Opponents included big-city Democrats and Republicans alike.

"Home Again" by John Knott in Galveston Daily News, Nov. 13, 1922

One of my disappointments in covering the 1922 election is that I was not able to turn up any cartoons by John Knott of the Dallas News and Galveston Daily News having anything substantial to say about the Klan candidate Texas elected to the U.S. Senate that year. Instead, he chose to celebrate Tennessee returning its governor's chair to the Democrats — and I do apologize for that character carrying Miss Tennessee's bags.

"The Retreat of the Lame-Duck Brigade" by John Baer, reprinted in National Leader (Minneapolis), December, 1922

Former Congressman John Baer cites a few of the ailments diagnosed in Edwin Marcus's cartoon and adds a few more: a proposed sales tax (to replace the income tax), an anti-strike bill, and a subsidy for shipbuilders.

What I was expecting to see in the National Leader was a celebration of Minnesotans' election to the Senate of the Farmer-Labor candidate, Henrik Shipstead, ousting Republican Senator Frank B. Kellogg, seated in the wheelchair in Baer's cartoon. (The Democrats' candidate, Anna Dickie Olesen, came in a distant third). The Farmer-Labor Party was the offspring of the Leader's "Non-Partisan League," after all, and the Leader had emblazoned a heroic sketch of Shipstead all over the front page of its November issue.

Front page of National Leader, Minneapolis, MN, November, 1922

Other than that, however, the Leader seems not to have found much to say about his campaign or his election.

Shipstead, a former and future Republican, would serve in the Senate until losing a GOP primary in 1947. An isolationist, anti-Semite, and conspiracy monger (Protocols of the Elders of Zion and all that crap), a senator described by the British Foreign office as "bigoted and crotchety," he is not remembered fondly these days.

"A Case for Careful Diagnosis" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, Nov. 13, 1922

But returning again to 1922: it must be noted that for all this talk of the Republican Party needing to find out where it had gone wrong, the 1920's would continue to be a solidly Republican decade in most of the United States.

"He Fits the Niche" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, Nov. 8, 1922

To wit: 1922 saw the election of one of the Democratic Party's enduring heroes, Alfred E. Smith, as Governor of New York. As the party's presidential nominee in 1928, he would lead the Democrats to their third consecutive landslide loss.

And lucky for him, too.

GUMP DEFEATS TRUMAN

Last week, we saw cartoon character Andy Gump elected to Congress in 1922 as an Independent candidate by a razor-thin margin over his Republican opponent, Sylvester Skink.

You didn't think that would be the end of the story, did you?

The Gumps by Sidney Smith, in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 17, 1922

Before Andy Gump came along, Sidney Smith had a daily cartoon in the Chicago Tribune called "Old Doc Yak," about a talking goat and his family. Doc Yak had a house, drove a car, and did all sorts of non-goat things, until at some point, Tribune editor-cum-publisher Joseph Patterson suggested to Smith that he should draw a cartoon about an Everyman type character living an ordinary life with an ordinary wife. The sort of person Patterson called a "gump."

So, in 1917, Old Doc Yak sold the house and the car to newcomer Andy Gump, a character patterned after an acquaintance of Smith's brother named Andy Wheat, whose lower jaw had been removed due to an infection that developed from a tooth extraction.

Thus was a marketing powerhouse born. By 1922, The Gumps were appearing in animated short films in theaters, and the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News were syndicating the comic strip from coast to coast. Universal Pictures began producing two-reel movies of the Gumps in 1923, starring ex-Keystone Cop Joe Murphy as Andy and Fay Tancher as wife Minerva.

Andy Wheat, rather than being upset by Smith's caricature of him, even had his name legally changed to Andy Gump.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 20, 1922

You should, however, see the incongruity of having common Everygump Andy Gump going to Washington. The Gumps was a continuity strip, not a one-off movie like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; how was Andy Gump to maintain what made him appealing in the first place in the halls of Congress?

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 22, 1922

So, inevitably, after some initially encouraging returns, the recount turned in Sylvester Skink's favor. And there was nothing Gump could do to stop the steal.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 23, 1922

One peculiar detail about this entire story line is that at no point did Sidney Smith allow for there to be a Democratic candidate in the race. That is only natural at this point after Election Day, having put Messrs. Gump and Skink within a few dozen votes of each other. But I find no mention of a Democrat running for Congress in Gump's district even before Election Day, 

Gump would have been prevented from running as a Democrat because the publishers of the Chicago Tribune were committed Republican loyalists; a Democratic hero on the pages owned by Joseph Patterson and Col. Robert McCormick was simply out of the question. Besides, casting Andy Gump as an Independent was more true to his origin as a typical, everyday, regular fella, and certainly not a partisan hack.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 27, 1922 

The lure of public office would nevertheless prove irresistible to Mr. Andrew Gump, his promises to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 28, 1922

In two years, partisan hack or no, he would throw his hat into the presidential ring — and continue to do so again and again election cycle after election cycle...

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 29, 1922

... setting a precedent for future comic strip characters from Pogo Possum to Snoopy to Zippy the Pinhead.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 30, 1922

Andrew Gump Elected Mayor of Congress

Return we now to the pivotal election year of 1922...

Detroit Free Press, Nov. 8, 1922

...in which a cartoon character was elected mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan.

Or not.

Either the Detroit Free Press headline writer didn't skim any further than the first paragraph of the article beneath it, or was a victim of autocorrect nearly a century before it was invented.

Or maybe John Wallace and H.C. Plass missed out on reporting the real news out of Hamtramck in favor of their own attempt to match wits with Chicago Tribune cartoonist Sidney Smith.

I haven't found any serious reporting that Andy Gump beat the flesh-and-blood candidates to be elected mayor of newly incorporated Hamtramck in 1922, although he did receive at least one vote in the race for Senator from Michigan that year, and no doubt a smattering of votes in various other contests around the country.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith, in Chicago Tribune, Sept. 5, 1922

For months, the titular character of Sidney Smith's syndicated comic strip had been waging a congressional campaign in the cartoon. Here's how the Detroit Free Press reported the results on Election Day: 

"Andy Is 100 Proof," Shout Supporters, "And He Don't Wear a Collar"

A citizen of Hamtramck who appeared at Gump headquarters during the evening proved himself slightly mixed on the issues of the campaign. This gentleman evidently had in mind Mr. Gump's declaration that he was 100 per cent for the people and wore no man's collar. "I voted for Gump," announced the Hamtramck citizen, "because he is 100 proof and don't wear no collar." Mr. Gump invited the caller into the rear room. He emerged, cheering loudly for Gump.

BY JOHN T. WALLACE & H. C. PLASS.

At 1 o'clock this morning the returns so far received in the great Gump congressional race gave:

• Andrew Gump, Independent, 30,906
• Republican candidate, 30,904
• Democratic candidate, 30,901

Feverish activity was evident at Gump headquarters. Mr. Gump's campaign manager remarked it would be advisable to make a round of the downtown precincts to see how the count was going.

"But I will need a little change for taxicab fare and other expenses," said the manager.

Immediately thereafter Mr. Gump was seen writing out a check.

"It's all in," stated John A. Schaufer.

"What do you mean, the bankroll?" inquired Roy Latham.

Schaufer dignifiedly explained that he meant Gump was a winner because he had carried the seventeenth ward.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Oct. 18, 1922

Newspapers which have opposed the candidacy of Mr. Gump, reviling him from the outset of his campaign, stated in their early editions that if he won, his victory would be due to the lavish expenditure of the money he received by compromising the famous breach of promise suit the Widow Zander brought against his Uncle Bim.

"Gump," declared one of these anti-Gump sheets, "has tried to corrupt the electorate."

"Let 'em rave," said Mr. Gump when he was interviewed at his headquarters at the Hotel Dresdemona. "I am 100 per cent for the people. The final returns will show me the winner. I have vanquished the special interests. I wear no man's collar."

"Your collar is wilted," spoke up the Widow Zander, who had been in the campaign headquarters since early in the evening. "Let me run out and get you a fresh one."

"Oh, Min."

"You needn't bother," said Mrs. Gump, coming forward. "I have one in my bag for the congressman."

"Oh, Min," exclaimed Andy Gump.

The Widow Zander melted into the throng.

Just then, a courier brought in the returns from the second precinct, first ward, of Hamtramck. They gave Gump 217; the Republican candidate, 13; the Democratic candidate, 21.

"Mayor [Peter C.] Jezewski seems to be delivering the goods," was candidate Gump's only comment.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 2, 1922

―

Andy Gump has just departed hurriedly from home for his headquarters, having received word from his campaign manager that the election boards in some of the river precincts are counting him out. He showed great excitement, but refused to talk to reporters.

―

After reaching his headquarters and listening to his manager's report of crooked counting in certain precincts, Mr. Gump said, "I care naught for my own political fortunes, but the sanctity of the ballot box, the palladium of American liberties, must be preserved at all hazards. I would just as sternly demand that a crook who stole a vote for me go to jail as one who stole from me."

―

Candidate Gump has just been in telephonic communication with the chief of police. He demanded that chief immediately send officers to the polling places where tampering with the count is said to be in progress. The chief listened attentively to what Mr. Gump had to say and promised to investigate the matter within the next few days.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 6, 1922

―

The Widow Zander has arrived at Gump headquarters. She was cheered loudly by the crowd gathered in the street as she alighted from her car. An intoxicated individual, however, caused the widow to blush by shouting, "How's Uncle Bim?"

―

Little Chester just called up headquarters. "Is my papa elected?" he inquired. Mr. Gump went to the phone. "Go to bed now, Chester," he said. "You will never grow into a great man like your father unless you get plenty of sleep while you are young."

―

The first precinct to report gives, Andrew Gump, independent, 102; the Republican candidate, 103; the Democratic candidate, 101. Mr. Gump looked serious as he scanned these returns. Then he retired to his room, took a flat object from his hip pocket, and closed the door.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith, in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 8, 1922

―

Shortly after the polls closed, Andy Gump, Independent candidate for congress, 100 per cent for the people, cabled to Uncle Bim Gump in Australia, "The battle is over. I stand at the parting of the ways. One leads to the capitol, the other to the poorhouse."

His friends and admirers pointed out that their candidate had always been for preparedness.

―

Gump's campaign manager, after a survey of the first returns that trickled in, announced: "Indications are that Gump wins by a neck."

Those in the room glanced at the candidate's neck, and broke into wild cheering.

"A landslide for our candidate!" they shouted.

―

Early returns from the silk stocking district along the Boulevard indicated that Gump had been snowed under there. Candidate Gump's only comment was, "Oh, Min!"

The Gumps by Sidney Smith, in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 9, 1922

―

Arrival of returns from the Widow Zander's precinct caused a stir in Gump's headquarters. The caller read: "Republican, 44; Democratic, 41; Independent, 0." Gump leaped on the table.

"The double-crossing, two-faced hussy; not even her own vote!" shouted Gump. Just then the caller yelled, "Hey! A mistake in the transmission — Gump gets 100; Democratic, 41; Republican, 44."

"I always said," remarked Candidate Gump, "that Henrieta Zander was one of the finest women in the world. I knew she would deliver her precinct strong."

―

Mr. Gump has just received the following cablegram from Australia: "Hope you are winning; kindly take $100 from remains of your campaign fund and purchase some suitable gift for Mrs. Zander. Will wire bank draft to reimburse you. (Signed) Uncle Bim." Immediately after reading the cablegram, Candidate Gump was seen in deep conversation with his campaign manager. The manager was overhead [sic] to say, "That's all there is; there isn't any more."

―

"It seems to be nip and tuck," Andy Gump's campaign manager remarked to him as the returns began to filter in. "That being the case," the candidate responded, "we might as well have a little nip ourselves." They retired to a rear room and closed the door.

The Gumps by Sidney Smith, in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 10, 1922

―

Candidate Gump was greatly cheered by a telegram from Shady Rest, where Andy used to fish with Old Timer before Old Timer was married. Old Timer's wife sent the message, collect. It read, "We know you have won. You can't keep a good man down. I'll bring Old Timer to visit you in Washington."

―

A delegation of prohibition advocates arrived at Gump headquarters, and expressed the hope that Mr. Gump, if the returns finally put him in congress, would stand for the strict maintenance of the Volstead act. Mr. Gump replied, "Gentlemen, I wear no man's collar." There was thunderous applause.

―

Andrew C. Baird, Wayne County Democratic chairman, admitted shortly before midnight that Andy Gump had a good chance to defeat the Democratic candidate for Congress. "Anyway," said Mr. Baird, "Mr. Gump's Christian name is the same as mine, and I think he will lne up with our party instead of with the Republicans. We also have other tastes in common."

―

"I wear no man's collar," Mr. Gump remarked when informed of  Chairman Baird's statement. "Nevertheless I will call around to Mr. Baird's office and see what he has to offer."

―

At 11:45 p.m. Dave Gordon, deputy county treasurer, claimed the election of Andrew Gump by more than 100 plurality. The Republican and Democratic candidates were said to be preparing to apply to Judges Harry J. Dingeman and Thomas W. Cotter for orders to impound ballot boxes pending a recount.

―

Shortly after midnight, marching clubs from the Anti-Saloon league and the W. C.T. U. headed by a big Gump campaign banner swept cheering into the Hotel Desdemona and into Parlor A, where tea, ice cream, sandwiches and lady fingers were served.

Soon afterward, a marching club from the Society Opposed to Prohibition, with a Gump banner at its head, marched into Parlor H. Hall boys were kept busy carrying ginger ale, mineral water, and seltzer into Parlor H. One of the local prohibition enforcement officers stood outside the door, as a guarantee to Gump's temperance friends that no liquor would be seen taken into the room.

Big Al's Sports Report (Love That Tinkle!)

In honor of the World Series, in which no other country in the world has been invited to play, Sliderback Saturday winds up and pitches some cartoons from the even more exclusive World Series of 1922.

"The Fan" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (DC) Evening Star, Oct. 4, 1922

Not only was the 1922 World Series limited to teams from one country, it was limited to teams from just one city. The series pitted the New York Giants against the New York Yankees, so you might suppose that the rest of the country would have lost all interest in what had become a strictly New York affair.

"Total" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, Oct. 4, 1922

But that wouldn't sell papers, would it?

"The Ball Weevils" by John Knott in Galveston Daily News, Oct. 8, 1922

If any interest in the series fell off in the rest of the country, there were still enough fans of the game, or at least gambling on it, to warrant this cautionary cartoon out of Dallas.

Any gamblers who bet on the Yankees were shut out of luck: the New York Baseball Giants swept them four games to none. (There were five games in this subway series; Game 2 ended in a 3-3 tie after ten innings.)

"Hats Off to M'Graw" by Bud Counihan in New York Evening World, Oct. 9, 1922

One newspaper job that disappeared decades ago was that of the sports cartoonist. Major newspapers like the New York Evening World might even have more than one on staff.

Here Bud Counihan salutes the winning coach, John J. McGraw and illustrates highlights of the final game of the series for the benefit of those who might have only read about the games the next day in the paper, if they didn't happen to have access to one of them new-fangled radio thingamabobs.

"Oh, the Melancholy Days" by John Knott in Galveston Daily News, Oct. ,4 1922

Fortunately for fans then and now, if one's baseball team falls by the wayside short of the World Series, one can always turn to football. It's the start of the gridiron season, and anything is still possible.  

"Impressions of the Pitt-Bucknell Football Game" by Bertin F. Link in Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 29, 1922

Judging by the sports cartoonists of the day, there were more fans of college-level football than of the professional variety. The newly-named National Football League consisted of sixteen teams, only two of which remain with us today: the Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and Racine/Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals.

"A Tragedy of the Football Field" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, Oct. 29, 1922

One thing that has changed has been efforts to protect football players from serious injury. You'll notice in these cartoons that the football players' helmets are nothing more than leather caps. They have no mouth guard (although by the 1920's, some players were improvising attempts at creating them); disfiguring facial injuries were commonplace. Concussions were expected and accepted. 

This may seem difficult to believe, but in football, there was more of a priority in protecting the player’s upper body, than in head protection. The invention of football shoulder pads was by L.P. Smock, who was a student a Princeton. His 1877 design were made of wool and leather and were actually stitched onto the player’s jersey. After the turn of the century, we see the development of the ‘harnessed’ shoulder pads that are over the head and attached via the chest area. While an improvement in design, they continued to be made of a combination of canvas and leather. It wasn’t until the 1960’s and 70’s that plastic shoulder pads appeared. By the 1990’s we saw the advent of the bulky padding that our players today wear.

"Speaking of Fullbacks" by Woodson M. Cowan for George Matthew Adams Syndicate, ca. Oct. 13, 1922

The general attitude was that players were tough guys able to withstand a little brain damage. Since the print is quite small, I'll point out the doctor examining University of Iowa fullback Gordon Locke on the right side of Iowa native Wood Cowan's cartoon:

Scientist: "The X-ray shows your skull to be exceedingly thick."

Text: "Scientist discovered that his dome is especially constructed for use as battling ram to hit the line with."

As pointed out elsewhere in the cartoon, Locke was no simple-minded bonehead. He would graduate third in his class at the University of Iowa College of Law, graduating in the top three of his law school class. After coaching football at U of I and Western Reserve University, he was general assistant law director for the city of Cleveland, then general counsel in Washington D.C. for the Committee for Oil Pipe Lines.

Sticking with football for one more cartoon, I'll note here that off the playing field, striking coal miners had reached agreements with mine owners and gone back to work. But then as now, supply chain issues meant that cold weather was moving in before adequate supplies of coal to heat everyone's homes and businesses. What supplies there were fetched premium prices.

"Neighborhood News" by Fontaine Fox for Wheeler Syndicate, Oct. 28, 1922

Then as now, it was surely all Joe Biden's fault.

Whose Fault, Darling?

(or, Whose Side Are You On?)

This week's Graphical History Tour focuses on one issue and one cartoonist in August of 1922.

"Great Game! Who's Ahead" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 5, 1922

I've concentrated on the work of J.N. "Ding" Darling before, as befits the pre-eminent editorial cartoonist of the day.

The strikes by railroad and coal mine unions, now several months old, dominated the news in the summer of 1922, so it only makes sense that Darling would return to the topic again and again. In several of these cartoons, he seems to hold both management and the unions equally culpable in their inability to reach a settlement.

"Someday Maybe When Sam Gets to Be a Big Boy..." by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 9, 1922

In one cartoon after another, it's Uncle Sam and/or John Q. Public who are ruthlessly victimized by labor and management.

"A Lot They Care for Fairness" by Darling in Des Moines Register, August 11, 1922

Darling, it must be noted, was primarily sympathetic to the Republican party, so it is remarkable that he would return over and over to holding labor and management both accountable for the protracted labor dispute.

"New Method" by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 13, 1922

This series of cartoons escalates the brutality of labor and management.

"They'll Save a Lot of Time..." by Darling in New York Tribune, Aug. 6, 1922

Here Darling proposes that the federal government step in to operate the coal mines. Can you imagine Republicans of today proposing that the government run the coal (or any other major) industry?

"A Point Which Some Folks Are Inclined to Overlook" by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 15, 1922

The federal government had taken over running of the railroads during World War I, and returning control to private industry had been a prominent issue for Republicans once armistice had been declared. Darling had been among them, but here he seems to suggest that Uncle Sam might need to step back in, setting rates, wages and service "by authority of the United States government."

"And Still Boys Will Grow Up..." by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 14, 1922

Although Darling hadn't been a fan of Candidate Warren Harding during the 1920 presidential campaign, he approved of President Harding's "polite invitation to settle the strike for the good of the country." Darling offered his full support should Harding pick up the presidential Big Stick, as Teddy Roosevelt had done, to force labor and management to come to an agreement.

"A Case for Careful Deliberation" by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 19, 1922

By the same token, Darling displayed his disappointment in the president as normalcy-minded Mr. Harding spoke softly, turning the problem of the railroad strike over to the vacationing Congress.

"We Still Can't See Anything the Matter with It" by Darling in New York Tribune, Aug. 12, 1922

Darling may have faulted both labor and management at the start of the mine and railway worker strikes, but he was, after all, a Republican at heart. Eventually, he found the unions more to blame than the mine and railway owners. In this cartoon, United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis shuns President Harding's offer of a splendid repast, "six months of everything they asked for," to the escalating bewilderment of John Q. Public.

What? You mean Lewis wasn't happy to postpone those drastic wage cuts until February? Some people are just impossible to please.

"When the Eight-Hour Day Representative..." by Darling in New York Tribune, Aug. 22, 1922

In the case of the railway workers, their issue wasn't only the wage cuts, but they also wanted to limit their workday to eight hours. The idea of an eight-hour workday was hardly new in 1922, but Iowan Darling mocked the concept in a cartoon sure to please his readers in farm country.

But Darling was not quite finished pointing the finger of blame.

"The Secretary Has Another Think Coming" by Darling in Des Moines Register, Aug. 31, 1922

In case the print in Uncle Sam's newspaper is too tiny for your eyeballs, he's showing Labor Secretary James Davis a list of men arrested or under investigation for recent violent actions by labor activists, and others taken into custody in a "raid on Red headquarters." All of them have non-Anglo-Saxon names, e.g., Popovich, Aleesio, Pzopowlosky, Martinez, Nebolskowitz, Kilsudsky, Heldieblower, Swartztrauber, and Nickleo.

Darling may not have been aware that Davis was an immigrant himself (from Wales, when he was 8 years old). As Secretary of Labor, however, he was in charge of the federal department overseeing immigration policy. The Border Patrol was established under his watch, and whatever his thoughts on the subject in August of 1922, his legacy would be further limits on immigration.