Through History with D. Henry Smith

Our Saturday History Tour this week looks at some of the November output of editorial cartoonist Dorman H. Smith on the topic of that month's Disarmament Conference.

"Brought Into Court at Last" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., by Nov. 12, 1921

I've come across two slightly different curricula vitae for Smith (1892-1956). John Adcock reports that Smith sold his first published drawing to Life magazine at the age of 17. Per Adcock, Smith began his editorial cartooning career with the Cleveland-based Newspaper Enterprise Association, a division of Scripps-Howard Newspapers, in 1921, then left for the Chicago Herald and Examiner in 1933.

"Annoying, to Say the Least" by Smith for NEA, by Nov. 1, 1921

AskART, citing "Artists in California, 1786-1940" by Edan Hughes, Who's Who in American Art 1940; Who's Who in California 1942; and Smith's March 2, 1956 obituary in the New York Times, says that "Smith worked briefly in the steel mills before getting a job as an advertising artist in Columbus [Ohio]. A self-taught artist, he was a cartoonist for the Des Moines News (1919-21) and New York American (1927-29). He then was a cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner while living across the Golden Gate in San Anselmo."

"Sounds Like a Bad Egg" by Smith for NEA, by Nov. 14, 1921

These accounts aren't necessarily mutually exclusive; either contains some information that the other lacks. Also, while the NEA had its cartoonists' offices in Cleveland, Smith might have at times worked from offices at another newspaper. 

For example, I found this classified ad, in which Smith had a California P.O. address, run in various newspapers between 1932 and 1941, when Smith was reportedly working for the Chicago Herald and Examiner. Yet a September, 1935 column by O.O. McIntire identified Smith as "a San Francisco cartoonist." A syndicated list of celebrity birthdays in February, 1937, however, identified him as "Dorman H. Smith, of Chicago, cartoonist." 

Cartoonists generally did not write the name of their home newspaper or syndication service on their cartoons; that information might be typeset alongside or below the other cartoonists' captions, but I haven't seen that with Smith's work. 

"The Key to the Whole Situation" by Smith for NEA, by Nov. 15, 1921

In any case, Smith's cartoons quickly appeared in some 700 NEA newspapers around the country in 1921, and it's not difficult to see why. His simple pen-and-ink drawing style appealed to editors, readers, and any lay-out guys who preferred white space to lots and lots of gray grease pencil. (He would employ grease pencil in some of his later work, however, including cartoons for Collier's — a job neither Adcock nor AskART mentions.)

His Republican, isolationist leanings suited the popular mood of the day; since he generally approved of the actions of the decade's Republican presidents and congresses, any criticisms he made tended to be aimed at foreigners and such bêtes noirs as high prices, rents, and taxes.

"China Knows Good Style" by Smith for NEA, by Nov. 19, 1921

Until I found that Adcock has probably left out a few details, I imagined Smith leaving the NEA to draw for the Chicago Herald and Examiner, his train passing by Herblock's, who left the Chicago Daily News in 1933 to replace the NEA's then cartoonist. Was that Smith? Adcock says so, but Herblock never mentions Smith by name in his own memoir, Herblock: A Cartoonist's Life (Random House, 1998).

"We Won't Have Any Peace Until the Cook Is Fired, Too" by Smith for NEA, by Nov. 22, 1921

Whereas Smith's isolationism was a perfect fit with William Randolph Hearst's newspapers whether in Chicago or San Francisco, Herblock repeatedly clashed with the anti-New Deal, isolationist President of the NEA, Fred Ferguson. When, in 1943, Herblock answered the draft to military service (albeit stateside), Smith returned to the NEA as his replacement's replacement.

I guess he might have been the Grover Cleveland of editorial cartoonists.

"Let's Hope She Doesn't Stumble Over Anything" by Smith for NEA, Nov. 26, 1921

Smith was considered for Pulitzers for editorial cartooning in 1930 and 1946, but never won the prize. Adcock reports, however, that Smith "won numerous awards for cartooning and in 1950 was awarded the George Polk Memorial award presented by the journalism department of Long Island University for his two 1949 interviews with Stalin." (I'm not finding that award here. Meanwhile, according to Editorial Cartoon Awards, 1922-1997, Heinz Dietrich Fischer, ed., Smith was working for the San Francisco Examiner in 1930 and Newspaper Enterprise Association in 1946.)

"Little Lord Fauntleroy" by Dorman H. Smith for NEA, by Nov. 25, 1921

Some of his awards I've found in news reports include the Sigma Delta Chi award for editorial cartooning in 1946, and a medal from the Freedom Foundation in 1949 for a cartoon titled "Every Man a King." Smith was too ill to attend the ceremony in Atlantic City, New Jersey, when he won the National Headliners Club medal for "consistently outstanding editorial cartoons" in 1950.

So now you know just about everything I know about Dorman H. Smith, and I haven't managed to tell you one damned thing today about the Washington Disarmament Conference, China, Anglo-Japan alliances, the Open Door Policy, or Burr Shafer.

Gladly the Crosshatched Bear

Researching last Saturday's post of women's suffrage cartoons, I came across the work of the Los Angeles Herald's O.P. Williams, a cartoonist with whom I was previously unfamiliar and about whom I haven't been able to locate any references*. His densely detailed cartooning style reminds me a lot of the styles of cartoonists at two other William Hearst newspapers of the time and leads me to wonder if there it was a style that particularly appealed to Mr. Hearst.

"Danger Ahead!" by Winsor McCay in New York  American, July 28, 1916

Of the three, the one cartoonist who remains famous in cartoonist circles is the New York American's Winsor McCay, best known for his "Little Nemo in Slumberland" and "Gertie the Dinosaur" comics. Every one of his editorial cartoons is finely detailed, meticulously crosshatched, and in perfect perspective.

"Walking the Plank" by Winsor McCay, July 26, 1916

It is the humans in his cartoons, who, while drawn with equal care to his architecture and machinery, don't quite come alive. His crowd scenes are masterfully detailed, but his politicians are more portraiture than caricature, and even his drowning victims look like they're patiently waiting to stroll to another page and sell Arrow shirts.

"America First" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, October 3, 1916

At Hearst's Chicago newspaper, the Examiner, editorial cartoonist Harry Murphy belonged to what I'm going to call the Winsor McCay School. Notice how his precise inking of light and shade renders distinct folds and wrinkles in fabric, and even Mr. Food Speculator's musculature.

"The Rival Shows" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, June 16, 1916

Another trait that typifies the Winsor McCay School is the dominance of symbolic representatives (e.g., Uncle Sam, John Bull, John Barleycorn, donkeys and elephants) over caricature. That's not to say these cartoonists never drew real politicians in their cartoons; Kaiser Wilhelm showed up in a number of Murphy's wartime cartoons, and he congratulated Charles Evans Hughes on his election to the presidency by drawing him taking the wheel of the ship of state.

It's just too bad that Hughes lost the election.

"Bring Him Home with the Rest" by O.P. Williams in Los Angeles Evening Herald*, February 19, 1919

Densely inked cartoons such as these were common in the illustrated magazines of the late 1800's; it took a while for the equipment at daily newspapers to be up to the task. Still, a cartoon suffers in its journey from drawing pad to printed newspaper to photograph to microfiche to .pdf to internet to .jpeg.

"Getting Top-Heavy" by O.P. Williams in Los Angeles Evening Herald*, January 31, 1919

What is impressive about the McCay School is how any of them managed to crank out one of these cartoons every day. Thomas Nast and Joseph Keppler had an entire week to compose and execute their cartoons for Harper's Weekly and Puck, even if you take into account that they would draw more than one cartoon per issue, often including one that took up a full page or two.

"Courage, Boy, Courage" by O.P. Williams in Los Angeles Evening Herald*, July 7, 1919

I have not come across any depictions of real persons in O.P. Williams' work (and I hope I'm reading that scrunched-up signature of his correctly). But he did a reasonably good job drawing animals, and perhaps that was of more interest to him.

"If They Keep on Retreating" by Hal Coffman in Los Angeles Herald, October 22, 1918

O.P. Williams didn't crank out a cartoon every day*; he alternated days with Hal Coffman (above), whose looser style was much more in the manner of the majority of pen-and-ink cartoonists of the day. Once in a blue moon, the L.A. Herald would run both of its editorial cartoonists on the editorial page, one right atop the other, since Coffman presumably could complete his cartoons faster than Williams could. In fact, there are some editions with two Coffman cartoons on the page.

"Quiet Apartment Wanted" by Frederick B. Opper in New York Journal, March 5, 1915

I include these cartoons just to demonstrate that although the McCay School of cartooning was nearly exclusive to Hearst newspapers, the Hearst newspapers did not rely exclusively on the McCay School for their editorial cartoons. Frederick Burr Opper established his reputation at the weekly magazines (Frank Leslie's Weekly, Puck) before being hired away by Mr. Hearst to draw for his New York Journal, and was quite influential in his own right.

"New Year's Never Agains" by Thomas E. Powers for International News Service, January 3, 1916

You can hardly get any further from the McCay School than T.E. Powers, reportedly one of Hearst's favorite cartoonists.

But getting back to the McCay School of Cartooning: since I promised a cross-hatched bear, here's one of Harry Murphy's.

"Suicide?" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, November 10, 1917

________
* See the comments below and my June 10 post for corrected information about O.P. Williams.

Last Call for Alcohol

Just a quick Synthale Saturday post today to mark the centennial this week of ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"Across" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1919

It's as if the idea wasn't even the least bit controversial. States were falling over each other to enshrine Prohibition in the Constitution. With ratification by Nebraska, North Carolina, and Utah legislatures on January 16, 1919 — less than a month after its approval by Congress — Prohibition had passed muster in the required 36 out of 48 states. Missouri and Wyoming approved ratification later that day, and all the remaining states but Connecticut and Rhode Island would follow suit by March 3.

"United Sahara America" by Sidney J. Greene in New York Evening Telegram, January 19, 1919

The 1910's witnessed a rash of amendments to the Constitution — one more of them than the antebellum trio of Amendments from 1865-70. Passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, authorizing federal income taxation, paved the way for the Eighteenth Amendment by giving the government, heavily reliant on liquor excise fees, an alternative source of funding. The Nineteenth Amendment extending the vote to women was slogging its way through Congress and state legislatures simultaneously with the Eighteenth.

"Well, There's No Getting Out of It" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 19, 1919

The Eighteenth is unique among all the Articles and Amendments in that it is the only one to limit the freedom of individuals. All the others grant powers to or limit powers of the federal government or states. (Granted, one could argue that the Thirteenth Amendment limits the freedom of individuals to own slaves, but it does so by extending the Declaration of Independence's promise of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to other individuals.)

"Slipping? Well, Yes" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Herald and Examiner, ca. Jan. 8, 1919

And so, the Noble Experiment was underway.

"'Long 'Bout This Time o' Year, Next Year" by Coleman .F. Naughton in Duluth (MN) Evening Herald, January 17, 1919

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

"Maybe Now We Won't Need That Fence at All" by John N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, January 21, 1919

"Ding" Darling brings our discussion back to the present day and Teetotaler Trump's obsession with his ugly border wall. If Congress lets him have this one vanity project, who's to say he won't shut down the government again to force repeal of the Twenty-first Amendment?

Sick of War

2018 is turning out to be a bad year for influenza, but it's still not as bad as 1918 was. Chalk that up to so many people failing to get their flu shots in those days. At any rate, editorial cartoonist John "Ding" Darling took advantage of the situation to make a comment about foreign affairs.

"Might Be the Neighbors' Children Have Been Having It" by Jay N. "Ding" Darling, January, 1918

American and Allied media excitedly reported that Austria was having a rough time of it in January, 1918. Emperor Karl's cabinet resigned, foodstuffs were in short supply, and laborers were going on strike.

"Doing His Bit!" by Sidney Joseph Greene in New York Evening Telegram, January, 1918

Even though Austria-Hungary's had been the nation to trigger World War I with its declaration of war against Serbia, Germany was the more dominant of the Central Powers from the earliest weeks of the conflict. As food shortages took hold in the industrialized Austria, leftist labor leaders teamed up with pacifists in protest against their Teutonic overlords to the North.

"Getting Tired of the Mess" by Harry Keys in Columbus Citizen, January, 1918

Yet there were notes of caution. The Pittsburgh Sun ventured that "Reports of labor uprising in the dual monarchy are to be taken with the same quantity of salt that are to go with similar reports of internal disorders in Germany. ... This latest tale of unrest bears the earmarks of truth. Taken in connection with the rigid sealing of the border, which was presumed to have been to clothe in secrecy the movement of the troops, there is a strong presumption that in Vienna and even in Budapest there have been riots and that at this time thousands of workmen are on strike in the capital and in the industrial cities of the south."

"The Weakest Link" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, January 31, 1918

From Berlin, statements of a left-of-center political leader gained wide circulation in England and America. "Suppose the army conquered France and England; would that mean peace?" thundered Philip Scheidemann, leader of the Social Democrats in Berliner Vorwaerts after Field Marshall Paul Von Hindenburg predicted the German army would be in Paris by April 1. "I say no, for we would still have to conquer America."

"Sleepless Nights!" by John Cassel in New York Evening World, January 25, 1918

German officials and media hastened to reassure the public that Entente depictions of dissent and disarray in the German government were greatly exaggerated.

"Durch die Reuterbrille" by Karl Arnold in Simplicissimus, Munich, November 27, 1917

However, one does begin to see cartoons laying the blame for Germany's and Austria's ills on the selfishness and greed of the moneyed class, portraying them as the ones making a fortune off of the conflict. This Swiss cartoon promises that the war, and those capitalists' gravy train, were soon to come to a stop.

"A Cause for Alarm" by "F.B." in Nebelspalter, Zurich, January, 1918

Yes, some mainstream American cartoonists (not only the socialists) also occasionally leveled criticism at the nation's rich for not sacrificing as much as others in the war effort, but in these Germanic cartoons lies the seeds of resentment against bankers that would grow into Kristallnacht and the Holocaust.

"Die Neue Polonaise" by Thomas Theodor Heine in Simplicissimus, Munich, January 22, 1918

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Central Powers and Russia toward the Brest-Litovsk treaty continued, despite Entente entreaties to Russia to resist. Here Olaf Gulbransson depicts a Russian negotiator (Nikolai Bukharin, perhaps?) as a Russian hound passively listening to Western talk of humanity, protection of the little people, correctness, and democracy.

"Die Stimme Seines Herrn" by Olaf Gulbransson in Simplicissimus, Munich,. January 22, 1918

And as regarded its western adversaries, Germany responded to President Wilson's Fourteen Point peace proposal with interest and a counter-proposal of its own. A Kingdom of Poland, with borders well east of where they are today, would be joined in a personal union with Austria-Hungary. A Duchy of Courland (western Latvia) and a Principality of Lithuania would be established as vassal states of the Prussian monarchy. Germany would agree to withdraw from Belgium, but the industrial region of Alsace-Lorraine would remain part of Germany.

"You May Have Belgium!" by John H. Cassel in New York Evening World, January, 1918

On this, Kaiser Wilhelm had the support of Social Democrat Scheidemann, continuing in the Berliner Vorwaerts that "Alsace is Germany's and will remain so. If one clear word is spoken regarding Belgium, England's war-mongering will end. An honorable, complete reinstatement of Belgium is our duty."

Well Done, Sister Suffragette

On the home front, America's editorial cartoonists had much to draw about in January, 1918. The federal government nationalized the railroads. Because of a coal shortage, Congress ordered businesses to close shop every Monday for a month. Not coincidentally, knitting sweaters was promoted as the latest fad sweeping the nation, for men and women alike.

And then there was the plot by women to unman the federal government.

One day after announcing his Fourteen Point plan to end all wars, Wilson declared his support for a constitutional amendment to extend federal voting rights to women.

"Both Are Mine!" by Charles "Bill" Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, January 9, 1918

You might recall that during the 1916 presidential campaign, Wilson's support for women's suffrage was grudging and negligible, in contrast to Charles Evans Hughes's and most other Republicans' whole-hearted support. Wilson's January announcement persuaded just enough reluctant Democrats for the the amendment to pass the House on January 10 — with only one vote more than the required two-thirds majority.

"How Can He Refuse?" by C. F. Naughton in Duluth Evening Herald, January 12, 1918

From the House, the bill passed to the Senate...

"Another Dark Alley to Go Through" by Kenneth Chamberlain in Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, January, 1918

...where it languished until its defeat in September.

These cartoons (prematurely) celebrate the emancipation of the female electorate, but it's only fair to present the other side. Since I led off with that fear-mongering banner headline in the Special Night Edition of the El Paso Morning Times, I feel obligated to share that Associated Press story with you.

Washington, Jan. 7. — Hearings on the federal suffrage amendment resolution to be voted on in the House Wednesday were closed by the House Woman's Suffrage Committee today after listening to arguments by representatives of the National Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage, and final appeals for favorable action by officials of the Nation Suffrage Association.
Former Senator Bailey of Texas contended that women are incapable of performing the three principal duties of citizenship, military service, sheriff service, and jury service, and should not help enact laws they are incapable of obeying. He insisted the suffragists constitute a small percentage of the women of the country, and added:
"There are too many ignorant voters now, and I would not add to the number."

"Shattering the Chains" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, January 11, 1918

Hentry A. Wise Wood, New York, formerly an advocate of woman suffrage, said women would insist on holding government offices, invading Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House and would succeed in womanizing the government and blocking the country's military program.

"The Feminine Way" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Eagle, January 11, 1918

Mrs. James A. Wadsworth Jr., president of the National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage, and other speakers denounced methods used by the suffragists in their efforts to put the resolution through Congress, particularly by public demonstrations of the militants and threats of political defeat to opposing legislators. The Suffragists, Mrs. Edwin Ford of Boston said, are "well organized, over-financed, and already have a split in their ranks."

"Father Gives His Blessing" by Jay "Ding" Darling, by January 18, 1918

Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt and Mrs. Maud Wood Park, officers of the National American Women Suffrage association briefly replied, saying they were before the committee to present "facts, not theory."
The national association made public today a number of telegrams and letters advocating the passage of the resolution, including one from Theodore Roosevelt.
Because of a crowded court calendar, argument of the appealed cases of the women convicted of picketing the White House was postponed until tomorrow. --30--

"Hands Across the Seas" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, January 11, 1918

(Me again.) Across the Atlantic on the same day as the House vote, the House of Lords, considering what would become The Representation of the People Act of 1918, rejected an amendment by Earl Loreborn which would have denied British women the vote. Speaking in favor of the amendment, Lord George Curzon alleged that wherever women had the right to vote, it promoted socialism.

Even without Earl Loreborn's amendment, the Act would not give British women equal voting rights with men, however. Whereas any man could vote after his 21st birthday (or his 19th if he had served in the military), a woman had to wait until the age of 30, and moreover had to be either a member a member of the Local Government Register, a property owner, a British university graduate, or the wife of any of the above.

Christmas Toons of 1917

We're busy wrapping presents, fattening geese and wassailing all over town here at Spruceback Saturday, but we've thrown together assembled some Christmas-themed editorial cartoons from the U.S. and Canada for your holiday cheer.

The famed "Christmas Truce" of 1914 was not repeated for the following yuletides, as all sides grew literally and figuratively entrenched in their mutual hatred. Cartoons Magazine resurrected this John Darling cartoon from 1916 in its December, 1917 issue, no doubt because of the practical matter of not having more up-to-date Christmas cartoons in time for the magazine's November publishing deadline. Surely, however, the sentiment was even more poignant to its American readership now that the U.S. was in the war Over There.

"It Seems Almost Heartless to Be Happy" by John "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, December 20, 1916

If the editors of Cartoons Magazine imagined that they could just file the Christmas, 1917 cartoons about the war for the next December's edition, they were to be happily mistaken. American soldiers spent only one Christmas fighting The Great War, and would leave Europe to settle its own disputes for another 24 Christmases.

The caption of this next cartoon seems likely to have been added by newspaper or syndicate editors, since the cartoon itself clearly depicts children of Romania, France, Serbia and Armenia in addition to those of Belgium. British and German forces were battling each other on Belgian soil as winter set in, which was covered extensively in the American press; but then, so were other fronts in the war. (Romania, by the way, signed a truce with the Central Powers on December 10.)

"How Santa Claus Finds Belgian Children" by Bob Satterfield fin Cleveland News, December, 1917

It is true that in the early months of the war, German soldiers, fearing insurrection by Belgian citizens, burned whole villages and executed tens of thousands of men, women and children. Those tales of German atrocities in Belgium were used well after the fact to whip up anti-German sentiment and to promote sales of U.S. Liberty Bonds.

"Christmas in Belgium!" by A.D. Condo in Cleveland Press, December, 1917

Meanwhile, national elections in Canada pitted the incumbent government of Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden against the Liberal stalwarts of Wilfrid Laurier. At the outbreak of the war, Canadians of all stripes gave enthusiastic support to the war effort; but by 1916, new volunteer recruits were not keeping up with war casualties. The war was especially unpopular in French-speaking Québec. While some Liberals joined Borden's Union government in supporting institution of the draft, Laurier was afraid of losing Québec to anti-conscription Francophones led by Henri Bourassa.

"Christmas, 1917" by James Fergus Kyle (?) for Canadian Liberal Monthly, Ottawa, December, 1917

Laurier's campaign charged that the war only benefited the rich, whereas everyone else was forced to bear the burden of the fighting overseas and shortages at home. Borden's campaign warned that if Laurier's party were elected, he would merely be a tool of Bourassa and would pull Canada out of the war. The latter argument carried the day, Unionists winning a decisive victory in the December election.

"A Disappointed Santa Claus" by Sam Hunter in Toronto World, December 25, 1917

I can't read Santa/Bourassa's face outside the doorway, but to me, Kaiser Wilhelm appears to be the more disappointed one. (Again, some editor must have felt obliged to add a headline to a cartoon that didn't need one.)

At the Chicago Examiner, Harry Murphy devoted a lot of ink to his publisher's various holiday-themed charity drives.

"Where They Meet" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, December 21, 1917

And I'm not just referring to his customary love of cross-hatching.

"The Good Fairy" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, December 8, 1917

Across downtown at the Tribune, John McCutcheon offered much the same sentiments, although not explicitly for the Trib's sponsored activities. "Will he give needless gifts," McCutcheon asks, "Or will he give needed ones?"

"His Christmas List" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, December, 1917

The scan quality here is terrible, so I'll explain that the gentleman's list reads "Wife, Children, Servants." The figures behind him in the second panel are "Destitution Abroad," "Soldiers' Christmas Fund," and "Local Charities."

So, with malice toward none and charity for all (whoops, sorry, wrong war), let's close out with Harry Murphy's cartoon for Christmas Day.

"Christmas Bells" by Harry Murphy in Chicago Examiner, December 25, 1917

And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow