Last Christmas

Rather than resurrect yuletide editorial cartoons from 1922 today, I thought I'd reach back 20 years further for the Christmas cartoons that would be Minneapolis Tribune cartoonist R.C. Bowman's last for the holiday.

Of course, Bowman couldn't have known it would be his last Christmas. His death the following June at age 32 would be an accident; he would be overcome by gas in his home.

Bowman's Christmas Eve cartoon concerns the chief foreign affairs news of the day. Seeking to force the Venezuelan government of Cipriano Castro to repay debts incurred prior to his country's 1892 civil war, Germany and Great Britain (joined by Italy) placed a naval blockade against Venezuela. Castro responded by arresting 200 German and British citizens in Caracas. Seeking to avoid having the U.S. navy come to Venezuela's defense, Britain invited the U.S. to arbitrate the dispute.

Bowman's Christmas Day cartoon refers to Rudyard Kipling's poetic screed against Great Britain allying its interests with Germany, "The Rowers," published in London Times Dec. 22. The actual poem is longer than I care to repeat here, but these stanzas show that Bowman's paraphrase didn't exaggerate its sentiment much:

"Our dead they mocked are scarcely cold,
  Our wounds are bleeding yet—
And you tell us now that our strength is sold
 To help them press for a debt!

"'Neath all the flags of all mankind
 That use upon the seas,
Was there no other fleet to find
 That you strike bands with these?"

🎄

Since Bowman's Christmas Day cartoon wasn't particularly Christmasy, let's check over at the Minneapolis Journal, where Charles "Bart" Bartholomew was taking a more festive approach to the holiday.

"An Old Fashioned Christmas" by Charles "Bart" Bartholomew in Minneapolis Journal, Dec. 24, 1902

Alert readers may recall that the Wright brothers had not yet flown their air-ship at Kitty Hawk as of Christmas Eve, 1902. Lighter-than-air balloons had been in use for half a century, however, and by this time had incorporated engines and steering mechanisms (and been involved in a fatal aeronautic accident). 

Like air-ships, automobiles were principally a plaything of the rich and indolent, although they were beginning to catch on with the general public. You'll find the more common modes of transportation referenced in Bartholomew's cartoon for Christmas Day:

"Papa's Christmas" by Charles "Bart" Bartholomew in Minneapolis Journal, Dec. 25, 1902

A third daily newspaper in town, the Daily Times, ran this front page cartoon beneath an editorial promising to publish "the names and addresses of any suffering poor in Minneapolis and St. Paul whose destitution is unknown to the general public."

"The Poor Ye Have Always with You," unsigned, in Minneapolis Daily Times, Dec. 24, 1902

By the way, I don't know what was meant by the "Don't Let This Happen to You" cut line. Surely the Daily Times wasn't advising its readers to pull the shades.

Anyway, the Daily Times, true to its word, printed the names and addresses of some two dozen destitute Minneapolitans (plus one from Minnetonka) "described by acquaintances or observers as needful of aid on this Christmas Day, it having been impossible to separately investigate the accuracy of the description in each case." I can't say how those people reacted to having their situation above the fold on page one, but the Times itself noted that only 5% of the total number of reports to them of destitution (in addition to those 25 there were others to whom the Times brought food and fuel) came from the destitute persons themselves.

"What Has He in the Pouch" by P.J. Carter in Minneapolis Daily Times,  December 25, 1902

P.J. Carter's Christmas Day cartoon for the Times again references the situation in Venezuela, while still keeping a Christmasy theme to his commentary. Carter favored pen and ink for his editorial cartoons, so I'm not prepared to conclude that the previous day's cartoon was his work.

"Sad News for the Trusts" by Tom Thurlby in St. Paul Globe, Dec. 24, 1902

Across the river in St. Paul, I had expected to find more cartoons by Frank Wing. Instead, I found these by a Tom Thurlby and O.C. Holt in the St. Paul Globe. Thurlby's Christmas Eve cartoon jumps past the present holiday to suggest to Mr. Consumer some new year's resolutions.

"When Yet a Farmer Boy" by O.C. Holt in St. Paul Globe, December 24, 1902

By the way, all four newspapers in today's post published on Christmas Day, 1902, a Thursday, although the December 25 Globe didn't happen to have any cartoons in it.

But there were two cartoons in the Christmas Eve edition; this poem and illustration hailing the true bringers of Christmas presents was on an inside page. You know it's hard work when you're sweating like that outdoors in St. Paul, Minnesota, on December the twenty-fourth.

At least someone was kind enough to gift the man a toy whatever-that-critter-is beneath his sack of goodies.

And with that, I wish you a merry little Christmas, eighth night of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa Eve, and any other holiday of your choice. 

Qapla'!

Alas, Poor Cartoons Magazine

I must acknowledge Google Books' archive of Cartoons Magazine as having been an invaluable resource in putting together my series of essays featuring editorial cartoons of events 100 years ago. But sadly, that resource is approaching the end of the line.

Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 8 #1, July, 1915; cover based on a Rollin Kirby cartoon

Not Google or Google Books (at least not just yet — nothing on the internet is as permanent as we were once led to believe, especially the "information wants to be free!" part). 

What I mean is that Cartoons Magazine underwent significant changes in 1921, and not for the better as far as my purposes are concerned.

Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 1 #1, January, 1912

Cartoons Magazine was first published in 1912, by Henry Haven Windsor in Chicago, Illinois. The magazine featured a wide variety of mostly editorial cartoons at first, on all the major issues of the moment: U.S. government, elections, international affairs, wars, the economy, you name it. Most cartoonists represented in the magazine were from the U.S., but examples from Europe, Australia and Latin America appeared frequently; and occasionally some from Japan and the Philippines as well. At first, the cartoons stood without much explanatory text, but over time they came to be be accompanied by humorous essays on the topic — unless, as in the example of the sinking of the Lusitania, whimsy did not suit the subject.

The typical issue would also be leavened with less topical gag cartoons and jokes, slice of life cartoons, and seasonal cartoons about holidays, the weather, sports, school days, and so forth. "What the Cartoonists Are Doing" became a regular feature, reporting such things as when a cartoonist was moving to another newspaper, getting married, presenting a public demonstration, joining the armed forces, retiring, or had gone to draw the pearly gates in person.

One of two pages of cartoons critical of a racist South Carolina governor in the January, 1913 issue, accompanied by no additional text

Other features that came and went were profiles of individual cartoonists, two-page cartoon spreads by a given cartoonist drawing about the city where he was working, feature stories about historical cartoons and cartoonists, and full-page cartoons drawn expressly for Cartoons Magazine.

Advertisements in the front and back pages promised lucrative careers to graduates of this or that cartooning school. Charles "Bart" Bartholomew backed his claims up with reports of the exploits of his school's alumni; and if hardly any of his graduates achieved any lasting fame, I'm sure that several made a comfortable career in those days when they had multiple employment opportunities in any given city.

One thing that hardly ever appeared in Cartoons Magazine was the work of William Randolph Hearst's stable of cartoonists. You would, for example, find plenty of the work of cartoonists for Chicago Tribune, Chicago Daily News, Chicago Post, Chicago Inter-Ocean, or Chicago Journal, but nothing that appeared in Hearst's Chicago Examiner. I don't know whether that was by Mr. Windsor's editorial preference, or if Hearst's publishing empire did not make those cartoons available.

Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 19, #6, June, 1921

The June, 1921 issue of Cartoons Magazine, published in May of that year, would be the last under that title. For several months, its issues had featured short works of fiction or light essays toward the front of the magazine, always illustrated with cartoons drawn specifically for them. Political cartoons were still predominant, but it had been a while since an adaptation of one had appeared on the front cover.

Cartoons Magazine and Wayside Tales, Vol. 20, #1, July, 1921

With the July, 1921 issue, Cartoons Magazine merged with Wayside Tales. The editor's note explained the changes to come:

"To our readers: Beginning with this issue, CARTOONS MAGAZINE makes its appearance as CARTOONS MAGAZINE AND WAYSIDE TALES. The best cartoons of the month will appear as before, with the running whimsical comment which has distinguished our pages in the past. In addition to the cartoon feature, however, the magazine under its new title will offer entertainment in the form of popular fiction by the best writers of the day. Romance, adventure, humor, mystery — these themes will constitute the new menu which we will serve our readers. Each issue will contain one serial by a popular novelist, one complete novelette, and a number of short stories, as in the present issue. — The Editor."

The table of contents made it clear which half of the magazine title came first inside, in spite of its placement and font size on the front cover.

So for August, they fixed the cover.

Wayside Tales and Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 20, #2, August, 1921

Editorial changes went further than as described by the Editor's Note. Topical cartoons remained, but political cartoons completely disappeared. There was not one cartoon about the new administration, about Democrats or Republicans, about immigration, or about Yap, Germany, Ireland, Armenia, or Mexico. Probably the closest thing to controversial cartoons were the ones about Sunday Blue Laws that I brought you last week.

Wayside Tales and Cartoons Magazine, Vol. 20 #6, December, 1921

Of course, when I say that the cartoons weren't controversial, I mean that by the standards of the time. Their cartoons featuring Black Americans would be highly controversial by today's standards, and I don't feel any pressing need to post them on a blog under my name. Ditto and ibid. for a few cartoons featuring Native Americans (with, by the way, the cut line "Drawn for Wayside Tales").

Wayside Tales, Vol. 21, #1, January, 1922

With the January, 1922 edition, "Cartoons Magazine" disappeared from the title entirely. There were still drawings and cartoons inside, and a dozen advertisements aimed at aspiring ink-slingers; but the "80 Pages of Humor" had been whittled down month after month to only 40 pages. 

Editorially, all that was left of Cartoons Magazine in the February issue was ten pages of "Best of the Jests." The final edition of the magazine was the May, 1922 issue.

Keep the Cartoon in National Cartoonists Day

Today, May 5, is National Cartoonists Day. In most years, the whole country would celebrate by gathering together at our favorite Cartoonist Restaurants for enchiladas, chips and salsa, and margaritas; but a more subdued, private observance is called for this year.

Newspapers are struggling to make ends meet, and cartoonists are among the first to get cut. Even the ever-popular comics page is not sacrosanct.

So raise your glass of Purell and enjoy this rehash of a cartoon from April 9, 1898 that I posted a few years ago.

[At the outset of the Spanish-American War, the Minneapolis Star's Charles] "Bart" Barthomomew  – standing with his back to us next to his signature gopher, or chipmunk, or whatever that animal is supposed to be – was drawing Uncle Sam (or crowing bald eagles) nearly every day.

The tall cartoonist just to Bart's right is the Minneapolis Tribune's Rowland Claude Bowman, who usually included in his cartoons that dog between his legs.

Other cartoonists in the cartoon are identified with their respective newspapers. From left to right: The Chicago Record, ?, New York Journal (standing), New York Herald (seated), Examiner San Francisco (standing), Chicago Inter Ocean (crouching), and World. Sorry, I just can't read that second fellow.

I can postulate names for the New Yorkers in this cartoon. Homer Davenport was cartoonist for the New York Journal. William A. Rogers was cartoonist for the New York Herald. The cartoonists for the (New York) World included Richard Outcault (in a self-caricature on page 71 of Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrop's American Political Cartoons, Outcault has dark shaggy hair, glasses, and an upturned moustache) and Walt McDougall.

In Search of Aunty Democracy

One of these Saturday posts last month included a pair of 1920 cartoons by Clifford Berryman featuring Miss Democracy, a common representation of the Democratic Party at the time but which has long since disappeared from the scene. Here she is with door-to-door book seller Vice President Thomas Marshall 100 years ago.

"Who Was He?" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, February 17, 1920

It got me to wondering where she came from, and in spite of much digging and wandering down rabbit holes, I haven't been able to uncover anything written about her. There has been plenty written about the Democratic donkey, Republican elephant, Tammany tiger, Uncle Sam, Brother Jonathan, Columbia and so forth, but I haven't found any discussion of this lady.

"Lan' Sakes, What'll I Do with 'Em?" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, November, 7, 1912

Berryman was not alone in popularizing the character, who was variously labeled "Miss Democracy" or "Aunty Democracy." The word "Democracy" here was a common reference not to the system of government but to the Democratic Party (as noted back in my posts about R.C. Bowman). A dowdy, usually bespectacled woman of a certain age, she typically dressed in frilly clothes that would have been fashionable in the mid- to late 19th Century.

"Hen(dricks)pecked" by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, August 5, 1876

One often turns to Thomas Nast as the originator for such things, even though he did not invent either the Democratic donkey or the Republican elephant as commonly supposed. He did depict the Democrats' 1876 Vice Presidential candidate Thomas Hendricks as a frumpy "Mrs. Tilden" once or twice (nowhere near as often as he drew cartoons of the "rag baby" representing the Democrats' attempts to make a campaign issue of inflation), which hardly seems sufficient exposure to inspire the next generation of cartoonists to use "Mrs. Tilden" as a template for Miss Democracy. Besides, "Mrs. Tilden" was, ipso facto, married.

"Aunty Democracy" by Charles "Bart" Bartholomew in Minneapolis Journal, August 30, 1899

The earliest incontrovertible examples of Aunty/Miss Democracy my admittedly less than exhaustive research have turned up are by Charles "Bart" Bartholomew of the Minneapolis Journal in 1899. Here he is making a pun on "Aunty" and "Anti"; whether he was taking advantage of a name and character already in existence I cannot say for sure. Bart returned the character to half a dozen or so cartoons that year, and not always to exploit the pun.

"Modern Ulysses and the Siren" by Charles "Bart" Bartholomew, in Minneapolis Journal, September 28, 1899

Cartoonists often cast Miss Democracy in the role of a spinster eager for a mate, but also as the pursued maiden.

"And the Williams Still Pursued Her" by Fred Morgan (?) in Philadelphia Inquirer, 1904

Here she is fleeing William Jennings Bryan and William Hearst, by a Philadelphia Inquirer cartoonist I presume to be Fred Morgan. She's listing hosts of her party's presidential nominating conventions from 1896 to 1904. Does "First I tried New York" mean that she came into existence with the 1896 campaign?

"A Critical Inspection of the Candidates" by Bob Satterfield for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., 1904

Bob Satterfield offers an example of "Aunty Democracy" that isn't trying to make an "anti-democracy" pun — at least, I don't think she's trying to fry the Democratic hopefuls under her magnifying glass. That's twice former President Grover Cleveland under the table, and twice unsuccessful (thus far) nominee William Jennings Bryan in the waste barrel.

"Trying to Stick Them Together" by Rowland C. Bowman in Minneapolis Tribune, 1901

Aunty Democracy isn't seeking a mate in Satterfield's cartoon, or in this one by Bart's crosstown rival, my old pal Rowland C. Bowman. Bowman departs from convention by naming her "Dame Democracy," and in at least one other Bowman cartoon, she has children of her own.

"Iowa Has Done an' Dud Up 'at Old Dead Tat" by R.C. Bowman in Minneapolis Tribune, 1901

I like Bowman's use of alliteration, but among his peers, "Miss Democracy" was her most common moniker.

"Trespassing" by Thomas S. Sullivant for Hearst Newspapers, ca. May 12, 1908

Which brings up the question of why there wasn't a similar character to represent the Republican Party. Surely there were ample occasions when some Miss Republicanism might go a-courtin', or receive gentlemen callers, as in this cartoon in which Joseph Keppler compares Teddy Roosevelt's endorsement of William Howard Taft for the 1908 GOP nomination to The Courtship of Miles Standish.

"The Courtship of Bill Taft" by Joseph Keppler in Puck, April 24, 1907

I've always pictured Priscilla Mullins (a distant relative of mine, whom one of my aunts was named after) as a more attractive woman than this, given that Miles Standish and John Alden both fall for her. So I find it odd that Keppler drew her this way when in earlier cartoons, he had represented the Republican Party as an idealized female specimen.

"Shooing 'Em In" by Louis Dalrymple in Puck, June 1, 1892

But if Keppler couldn't decide what Miss Republicanism ought to look like, neither could his fellow Puck cartoonists.

"Her Pet" by Frederick Opper in Puck, April 13, 1892

Frederick Opper also gives Miss Republican two completely different guises. If these three influential cartoonists couldn't agree what Miss Republicanism ought to look like, what possible hope was there that she would ever catch on with the rest of the nation's ink-stained wretches?

"Their Time Has Come Again" by Frederick Opper in Puck, July 27, 1892

Returning to Miss Democracy, then. She gradually fell out of favor with the generation of cartoonists who followed Bart, Clifford Berryman, et al. (So too does the use of the word "Democracy" to refer to the Democratic Party.) One doesn't find her in the cartoons of the Ashcan School, or, for that matter, most leftist cartoonists using any media.

"What I Want I Can't Get" by Silvey J. Ray in Kansas City Star, 1952

The latest examples I've seen of her are in the 1950's, by which time everything about her is way out of date. She was incongruous to the party of organized labor, civil rights, and progressivism. Nevertheless she persisted, pursuing and being pursued.

"'Tis But Thy Name That Is My Enemy" by Herbert Block in Washington Post, February, 1950

Herblock, from what I've seen, used her only to represent the Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic Party, and hardly ever at that. He included the above cartoon in his first book, in a chapter largely about using stock characters versus caricatures of actual politicians; of this cartoon, he wrote nothing about her but mused that the joining of Dixiecrats with the G.O.P. might necessitate creation of a new stock character someday.

"Harry—What a Hat!" by Leo Joseph Roche in Buffalo Courier-Express, June, 1956

In conclusion, here is the most recent cartoon appearance of Miss Democracy that I know of, in which she is stunned by former President Harry Truman's receipt of an honorary degree from Oxford University.

Strand Magazine: The American Cartoonist

Gus Frederick, whose blog is the [Homer] Davenport Project , discovered my site while researching turn-of-the-century editorial cartoonist Rowland Claude Bowman because of a write-up in the October, 1902 edition of Strand Magazine: "The American Cartoonist and His Work" by Arthur Lord. The article profiles the New York Journal's Homer Davenport, Harpers Weekly's W. A. Rogers, and the Chicago Tribune's John T. McCutcheon, in addition to R. C. Bowman of the Minneapolis Tribune.

"Where Davenport, in short, would make an enemy, Bowman would make a friend, so great is the difference in the styles of the two men. Bowman is a careful student of politics, and his picture editorials always present a strong argument. He possesses a rare originality and spontaneous humour, and that his drawings are well thought out is proved by their simplicity in detail. ... Bowman is a humorist and not a satirist, and has attained his success through close adherence to well-defined principles of directness, simplicity, and gentleness. The Tribune reader opens his paper with the knowledge that he is going to get a laugh, and the man made fun of may open his copy with the knowledge that he is not going to squirm."

The Strand article includes three more samples of Bowman's cartoons (I suspect they are details of portions of cartoons, however). The article appears to be one of a series, insofar as it promises more about Bart Bartholomew of the Minneapolis Journal in the next issue.

And, as long as I'm on the topic of R.C. Bowman again, here's another cartoon, from page 14 of the 1900 edition of his cartoons, in which the Populist Party is depicted as a bunch of frogs pestering Vice Presidential hopeful Adlai Stevenson Sr.

Stevenson hollers for help.

I wonder if the Illinois Senator laughed at the gentle treatment of consistently being drawn wearing a little girl's dress.

Overworked Uncle Sam

I ran across this cartoon by Charles Lewis "Bart" Bartholomew for the April 9, 1898 Minneapolis Journal the other day:

Overworked.

Uncle Sam to the cartoonists of the country–Don't you think, boys, you could give me a day off? I begin to feel as if I had been worked overtime by you fellows of late.

Despite some early cartoons lampooning the eagerness to go to war of Randolph Hearst and company, Bart was by this time regularly drawing jingoistic cartoons lauding America's taking up arms to aid "Starving Cuba" and questioning the intentions of Spanish diplomatic attempts to head off the war. So Bart – standing with his back to us next to his signature gopher, or chipmunk, or whatever that animal is supposed to be – was drawing Uncle Sam (or crowing bald eagles) nearly every day.

The tall cartoonist just to Bart's right must be the Minneapolis Tribune's Rowland Claude Bowman, who usually included in his cartoons that dog between his legs.

Other cartoonists in the cartoon are identified with their respective newspapers. From left to right: The Chicago Record, ?, New York Journal (standing), New York Herald (seated), Examiner San Francisco (standing), Chicago Inter Ocean (crouching), and World. Sorry, I just can't read that second fellow.

I can postulate names for the New Yorkers in this cartoon. Homer Davenport was cartoonist for the New York Journal. William A. Rogers was cartoonist for the New York Herald. The cartoonists for the (New York) World included Richard Outcault (in a self-caricature on page 71 of Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrop's American Political Cartoons, Outcault has dark shaggy hair, glasses, and an upturned moustache) and Walt McDougall.

More Mr. Globehead

Here's another example of a Mr. Globehead editorial cartoon. This one's from The Philadelphia Inquirer in reaction to the conviction of Captain Dreyfus by a French court at Rennes. The verdict Judge Globehead is handing forth reads "The whole world disapproves of the verdict at Rennes." Regrettably, I can't read either the cartoonist's signature or the folded paper on the floor.

Public Opinion of New York, the magazine in whose September 11, 1899 edition it appears, occasionally includes the name of the cartoonist along with a description of the cartoons it prints. Their crediting of the cartoonist isn't consistent; the cartoonist is never named when the cartoon illustrates an article, and only once in a while in their periodic "Current Cartoons" round-up. (By the end of 1899, the magazine seems to have given up on the often superfluous accompanying descriptions of the "Current Cartoons." But they obviously appreciated editorial cartoons; in 1902, they started illustrating the cover of their semiannual bound editions with them.) I'm still looking for any instance in which the magazine names the Inquirer's cartoonist.

The cartoon at right is from the Minneapolis Times in September, 1901. R.C. Bowman was the cartoonist for the Minneapolis Tribune, and Charles Lewis "Bart" Bartholomew (see a book of his 1899 cartoons here) was the cartoonist for the Minneapolis Journal, but I don't know who the cartoonist for the Minneapolis Times was. "Dove Lotion" is about all I'm able to make out in this one, which apparently references the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. If that boil is to represent Cuba, it is inflamed to the point that surgery may be called for.

These examples of Mr. Globehead don't push his advent any earlier than our previously posted cartoons, so the hunt continues.

R.C. Bowman's Presidents

Perhaps I should have saved these for Presidents' Day, but here are three cartoons from Rowland Claude Bowman's book of his editorial cartoons from 1900 for the Minneapolis Tribune. I start with a cartoon of former president Grover Cleveland:

Grover: "Dad-rat-it, I've hooked a bullhead."
The fish is labeled "Gold Democrat Presidential Nomination 1900."

In addition to being the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms (and here, apparently, there were people who thought he should serve three of them), Cleveland holds the distinction of being the only Democratic president between James Buchanan (1857-1861) and Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921).

As such, he also holds the distinction of being the only Democratic U.S. president to sport facial hair while in office.

I've already blogged these next two cartoons. The book I have was published during the term of William McKinley, so it's kind of surprising that there aren't several cartoons of him:

Rah! Rah! Mac-Kin-Lee! Roosevelt! Roosevelt! G.O.P.!

The book contains more cartoons which include future president Teddy Roosevelt than there are of the incumbent:

They get real mad at Teddy for getting "solid" with the Dakota girls.

I was interested to find that while Google Books does not have the book I do, they do have The Minneapolis Cartoon Book for 1902: Being a Collection of Over 100 Cartoons by R.C. Bowman. Given that Bowman died in 1903, theirs is probably the last Bowman book.

Since Google has posted the entire book on line, I won't copy it here, but I do find a couple things of interest about the 1902 book, which covers the year 1901.

President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, but there is no cartoon about it in the book.* According to a review in Public Opinion (which I'll reference below), Bowman's cartoons appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune almost daily, so one imagines that he must have drawn Uncle Sam crying, or Uncle Sam solemnly resting a hand on Teddy Roosevelt's shoulder, or some other cartoon on the subject. Bowman and his editors must have decided that the cartoon wasn't worth including in the annual round-up. These days, they would have submitted it for a Pulitzer.

Curiously, however, there is this cartoon on page 82. If Bowman and his editors perhaps thought it might be indelicate to include a cartoon about the assassination of President McKinley, why did they include this cartoon of a self-satisfied Uncle Sam on his way to the exposition at which McKinley would be shot?

The other remarkable thing is that the 1902 book contains only two cartoons about Teddy Roosevelt. I almost didn't recognize him the one on page 37, but in the other, on page 72, the cartoon is more of a portrait than a caricature.

While trying to find the 1902 book a second time, I ran across this Bowman cartoon of Grover Cleveland on page 5 of Public Opinion: A Comprehensive Survey of the Press Throughout the World on All Important Current Topics; Volume XXX, January 1901 - June 1901 (Public Opinion, Waverly Place, NY).



Cleveland advises the Democracy to return to first principles.

This cartoon of Grover Cleveland is not in R.C. Bowman's books; but Volume XXX of Public Opinion includes (page 120) a glowing review of his cartoons and those of Minneapolis Journal cartoonist Charles L. "Bart" Bartholomew, whose cartoons also were published in book form that year.

"Readers of Public Opinion must already be aware that we place a high value upon the work of Mr. Bowman of the Minneapolis Tribune and "Bart" (Charles L. Bartholomew) of the Minneapolis Journal. With the cartoons of the press of the whole United States at our disposal, we find week after week that topics of the times are more effectively illustrated by these two men than by any others."

In the review, we find that Bowman's book cost 25 cents. Bartholomew's was only 5 cents and was published in color.


* P.S.: Looking through the book once more, I note that there is a cartoon about the execution of McKinley's assassin, anarchist Leon Czolgosz, on page 94. McKinley was shot on September 6 and died a week later; Czologosz was convicted of the assassination on September 24 and electrocuted at Auburn Prison on October 29.