Government v. Press

This week's Graphical History Tour bravely sallies forth against censorship of newsmedia in the United States.

As a political cartoonist who has just been among a few dozen other political cartoonists, Your Humble Scribbler has a vested interest against censorship of editorial cartoons in particular. 

During the First Golden Age of my profession, in the late 18th Century and into the next, newspaper publishers saw the popularity and influence of the Thomas Nasts and Johannes Kepplers drawing for the national weeklies, and hired some of the best editorial cartoonists to grace their newspapers' front pages. And not incidentally, to push the publishers' political agendas.

"No Honest Man Need Fear Cartoons" by Homer Davenport in New York Journal, Apr. 22, 1897

Local politicians did not take kindly to being lampooned on those front pages. Upset by Homer Davenport's cartoons of influential Republican Mark Hanna, New York political boss Senator Thomas Platt, pushed a bill in the state assembly to ban cartoon depictions of real persons without their consent.

Davenport drew the parallel with Platt's predecessor, William Tweed, who had famously complained that although his constituents didn't read the papers, they saw "them damn pictures." Platt's bill failed to pass, but that didn't stop similar bills from cropping up elsewhere.

"The Governor Has His Revenge" by Robert Edgren in San Francisco Examiner, Feb. 25, 1899

A copycat bill by California Republicans failed to pass on its first go-around, but was passed during the next legislative session and signed by newly elected Republican Governor Henry Tifft Gage. As in New York, the partisan Democratic cartoons in Hearst newspapers were a major impetus for the bill; specifically, a cartoon of Gage being led on a leash by railroad magnate C.P. Huntington.

Having been signed into law, California's anti-cartoon bill was laughed — and ignored — into obscurity. Hearst cartoonist Robert Edgren offered an unusual motive for Governor Gage to sign the anti-cartoon bill: that the cartoonists were not drawing him any more.

Frankly, the man was a caricaturist's dream. Too bad he was voted out of office after one term.

by Walter McDougall in North American, Philadelphia, Jan. 30, 1903

Responding to daily cartoons in Philadelphia's North American by Charles Nelan depicting gubernatorial candidate Samuel Pennypacker as the pet parrot of Republican Party boss Senator Matthew Quay, Pennypacker's inaugural address demanded censorship of the "disreputable" North American. Obligingly, State Representative Frederick Pusey introduced a bill outlawing publication of any cartoon 

"portraying, describing, or representing any person, either by distortion, innuendo, or otherwise, in the form or likeness of beast, bird, fish, insect, or other unhuman animal, thereby tending to expose such person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule."

The North American's other editorial cartoonist, Walt McDougall, responded with a cartoon stretched across the top of the front page depicting Quay, Pusey, and Pennypacker as a series of inanimate objects. (I have folded his cartoon to fit into a square format.) In an accompanying editorial, McDougall exhorted his fellow cartoonists, "Every cartoonist has a Noah's Ark full of worn, broken, and decrepit animals, bugs, and such, but the fresh vegetable field is untouched."

Pusey's bill nevertheless passed the Pennsylvania legislature and Pennypacker signed it into law. It was promptly repealed after Pennypacker was defeated in the next election.

by Frank Spangler in Montgomery [Ala.] Advertiser, Feb. 3, 1915 

As part of a package of election regulation laws, the Alabama legislature entertained a bill sponsored by Samuel D. Weakly prohibiting the caricature of any "prominent" man or politician. "It will make the average newspaper reader smile," the Advertiser editorialized, 

"that a sacred class is to be made of officeholders and office seekers, for they are the bulk of prominent people whom newspapers cartoon. A cartoon is a semi-editorial expression, and a powerful method of reaching public opinion, because ridicule and sarcasm are vividly presented to the eye. Both weapons are enormously effective on the stump, and there is no reason why the press should be deprived of their use. In fact, such a bill is a distinct effort to muzzle the press, and is an infringement of its constitutional powers."

As far as I have been able to determine, Weakly's proposal did not make it into the final bill. The Act (#171, § 11) did require cartoons expressing an opinion on any candidate or election issue to include "upon its face" the name of the newspaper's owner or the chief executive of its corporation.

"The Light that Must Not Fail" by Harry Murphy ca. May 5, 1917

U.S. entry into World War I opened the doors for government censorship of newspapers, and not just for their cartoons.

The Espionage Act of 1917 made it a crime to publish with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies during wartime; to cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States; or to willfully obstruct military recruiting or enlistment.  The Act also gave the Postmaster General authority to impound publications that he determined to be in violation of the Act.

"That Wooden One" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 5, 1917

The U.S. was drawn into Europe's war due in part to the sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania by a German U-boat. Nelson Harding, in a single-column cartoon on the Brooklyn Eagle's front page, turned the incident back against advocates for press censorship.

"Is This Somewhere in Germany or Somewhere in America" by Beaumont Fairbank in Brooklyn Sunday Eagle, May 5, 1918

In the same newspaper on the same day, Beaumont Fairbank drew his cartoon in support of an amendment to the 1917 Espionage Act by Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA) stating, 

"The use of the mails should not be permitted to any newspaper, magazine, periodical, circulars or pamphlets which are printed in whole or in part in the German language." 

Fairbank was by no means alone in advocating governmental censorship of the foreign language press. While that amendment had failed to be included in the final bill, local officials outlawed German-language newspapers in several cities in New Jersey and Long Island.

"Wenn Uns Jetzt Unsere Vorväter Sehen Könnten" by John Lenz in Vorbote, Chicago, Oct. 31, 1917

Protest against this censorship was almost exclusively limited to the foreign language newspapers themselves. The banner behind Congress in John Lenz's cartoon translates to "Freedom of Speech, Press Freedom, Right of Assembly." The rolled parchments beneath George Washington represent the Constitution and First Amendment.

"O Sorry Plight" by Arthur Young in Masses, New York, September, 1917

The Creel Commission also employed the U.S. Post Office to censor publication of material counter to the official line. Art Young's cartoon above appeared in the September issue of  the marxist, antiwar Masses after Burleson's USPS had declared the August issue "unmailable under the Act of June 15, 1917."

"A Convenient Perch" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, May, 1918

If Art Young expected other publications to rally in solidarity with Masses, he would be sadly mistaken. The Committee on Public Information headed by George Creel created a Bureau of Cartoons, which produced a weekly bulletin for cartoonists to direct their attention to matters the Wilson administration wanted them to draw about. By and large, cartoonists and their publishers fell right in line.

Masses ceased publication after its November/December issue.

"It's Nothing Important" by Bill Sanders in Milwaukee Journal, Dec. 20, 1972

Jumping ahead over half a century, President Richard Nixon tried very hard to force newsmedia to slant the news the way he wanted it reported. His administration enlisted the Federal Communications Commission to pressure television networks, cut funding to public broadcasting, and took newspapers to court. He was stymied, however, without a cooperative Congress or courts.

Instead, his communications team went on to found Fox News.

"Ask Me Anything" by Pat Oliphant in Denver Post, Nov. 15, 1973

In the meantime, we learned that President Richard Nixon kept an "enemies list" of critics of his administration, including many journalists. Nixon had always had a testy relationship with the media well before being elected president. As the Watergate scandal unfolded, it was revealed that he used the Justice Department, FBI, and Internal Revenue Service to open investigations against individuals on that list — although at least he never barred Jack Anderson, Daniel Schorr, or Mary McGrory from White House press briefings. 

for Bergetoons blog, August, 2018

There has been no assault on the media and the facts to rival the Absolutely Corrupt Donald Trump Regime's campaign to quash any reportage that doesn't fawn upon Dear Misleader. The two terms of his presidency have seen government websites erased, responsible reporters banned first from the Pentagon and now the White House, and weaponization against the media of both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission, this time with general compliance on the part of Congress and the Supreme Court.

for Q Syndicate, February, 2025

Unless approved by Trump himself, it's all just fake news.

"They give me only bad publicity, press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away, ... That’s all they do. If you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative on in years or something, somebody said. But when you go back, take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They're giving me all this bad press, and they're getting a license. When you have a network and they have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that's all they do — that license, they're not allowed to do that!" — Donald Joffrey Trump, September 16, 2025

What's Shakin', Johnny Canuck?

Today's Graphical History Tour pays another visit to our neighbor to the north. Understanding Johnny Canuck will become increasingly important if we Yanks intend to welcome Canada as our 51st state.

Or declare war on them. Whatever.

"Enter March, 1925" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, March 1, 1925

March, 1925 came in with an earthquake centered in the Charlevoix/Kamouraska seismic zone of southern Quebec at 9:21 the night of Saturday, February 28. Measuring 6.3 magnitude, it caused significant damage to buildings, widespread panic, but no fatalities. It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever to hit eastern Canada, and was felt as far away as La Crosse, Wisconsin and Florence, South Carolina.

"Coolidge's Common Sense Policy" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, March 3, 1925

When we last took a gander at Arthur G. Racey's cartoons, he was casting aspersions aplenty across the line; but he greeted the inauguration of Calvin Coolidge with this cartoon recommending the American President's policies to Liberal Party Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Racey, a Conservative Party stalwart, had little affection for King, seen here peering over the wall at Coolidge and his woodpile of waste and expensive deadwood. 

Imagine if Coolidge could have been equipped with a chainsaw instead of an axe! He'd have had time to make that wall taller, then tear it down, then build it up again, and down, and up...

"Has His Eye on It" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star,  March 30, 1925

By the end of the month, Coolidge was the one peering over Racey's fence, envious of a Scotsman's reputation for parsimony. If there was an actual World Thrift Championship in March, 1925, I have not been able to find contemporary news reports of it.

"What Is He Saying" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, March 4, 1925

Racey could easily have chosen to take offense at a February 24 speech at a Women's Conference on National defense and Peace Insurance in Washington D.C. by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William Phelps, but chose to use the occasion to highlight the alliance between the U.S. and the British Empire. Racey's cartoon paraphrases Phelps: "An Anglo-American War is in sight. It can only be prevented by a strong U.S. Navy."

Phelps's address, given with Coolidge’s Secretaries of War and State in attendance, came amid debate in Washington whether to boost defense construction of battleships or aircraft. His views reflected the isolationist views ascendant in U.S. politics, as well as the Anglophobic drumbeat of William Randolph Hearst's media empire:

"One of the primary objectives of the League of Nations, under the leadership of England, is to devise some policy to destroy the American favorable balance of trade. ... There are serious differences brewing between England and the United States over shipping policies. These differences can be prevented from developing into a conflict only by a strong American Navy. That America determines to build up a great merchant marine fleet has created against us the bitter animosity of the English shipping interests."

"The Wasp's Nest" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Star Daily, March 3, 1925

Phelps's superiors quickly distanced themselves from the Rear Admiral's remarks, and Toronto cartoonist Sam Hunter joined A.G. Racey in downplaying their significance. 

The Daily Gleaner of Frederickton, New Brunswick, editorialized on March 3: "We have no doubt [Phelps] succeeded in keeping his audience awake. For the rest, we surmise that the 'brew' came from a brainstorm or something stronger than salt water."

"Whatcha Mean If" by James B. Fitzmaurice in Vancouver Daily Province, March 5, 1925

Suffice it to say that Coolidge's inaugural address contained no such incendiary predictions of a return to the War of 1812. This cartoon by James B. Fitzmaurice leaves me wondering whether he found Coolidge's vision of world peace inspiring or merely quaint. Is this how culturally nice Canadians mock someone?

"Some Demander" by Sam Hunter in Toronto Star Weekly, March 7, 1925 

For a more forthright critique of American foreign relations, Sam Hunter mocks congressional demands that America's Entente allies step up their repayment of wartime U.S. loans. He also took a dim view of the U.S. prescribing its own European peace and reparations plan after refusing to participate in the League of Nations (the brainchild of an earlier U.S. President).

Opium was the fentanyl of the day. I do not, however, believe that the Coolidge administration or Republican Senate were blaming Canada specifically for the supply of opium to the United States, the way that the present maladministration and Congress pretend is the issue from up north. 

Back to Mr. Racey...

"And Easy to Make It So" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Star, March 19, 1925

Here's another Yankee innovation Racey thought Canadians should emulate: Daylight Saving Time. From the standpoint of keeping Québec and New York in the same time zone, it must have made a great deal of sense to him. He might also have been intrigued by the prospect of daylight hours extending even further into the evening than we're used to south of the border.

Those of us still straining to get used to waking up an hour earlier every morning since springing ahead last Sunday might beg to differ that Daylight Saving Time makes everybody happy, however.

Now, lest you think Racey was going entirely soft on the Yanks:

"Such a Fine Business Proposition" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, March 6, 1925

Racey remained suspicious of U.S. designs on Canada's electricity and lumber, as you surely remember from this stop on the Graphical History Tour.

"Super Power" in this cartoon refers to U.S. Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover's proposal to eliminate barriers to interstate transmission of electricity, supplemented as well by power lines bringing in hydroelectricity generated in Quebec and Ontario. 

Racey may also have had in mind efforts by a Chicago speculator who had bought controlling interest in numerous electric companies across the U.S. and was interested in acquiring Canadian power companies as well. To counter the Chicagoan, two Montreal stockbrokers founded The Power Company of Canada in April, 1925 to consolidate Canada's many regional power companies.

In case you're ever asked, the United States is the leading consumer of lumber in North America, and Canada is the leading supplier: Canada supplied roughly 30% of the lumber used in the United States last year. The four largest North American softwood lumber producers operate in both countries.

Little did A.G. Racey suspect that 100 years later, that electrical power and lumber would become a weapon in Canada's battle to fend off United States hegemony.

Not a Post About Monkey Pox

Having reviewed labor strikes with "Ding" Darling and the Texas run-off with John Knott, let's catch up on some of the other issues catching cartoonists' attention in August, 1922:

"Just When We Need Amusement, Too" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, Aug. 23, 1922

Election season wasn't limited to Texas, of course. In addition to the strikes by railroad workers and coal miners, a top issue in Washington was congressional wrangling over a tariff bill. Manufacturing interests pushed for raising tariffs on imported goods, while agricultural concerns worried that high tariffs would be answered in kind on their exports.

"More Callers" by Wm. Donahey in Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug./Sept. 1922

There were plenty of other pressing issues, besides.

"Behind the Political Scenes" by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., ca. Aug. 28, 1922

Nor had beer and wine interests given up on salvaging a domestic market for their goods in spite of Prohibition. Some proposed legalizing the sale of "light wine" and "near beer" (2.75% alcohol content).

"It Looks As If It's Gonna Be Kinda Crowded" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Aug. 19, 1922

Dorman Smith's "Aunty Prohibition" looks suspiciously like "Miss Democracy," whose origin and fate we attempted to discern two years ago. The "Drys" and "Wets" did not, however, divide neatly along party lines.

The same was true of several other issues, including the tariff situation, and a proposal to issue bonus payments to veterans of World War I.

"For Political Purposes" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug. 31, 1922

The Senate passed a bonus bill in August, authorizing payment of a dollar per day spent in the military, plus an additional quarter per day spent overseas. The argument in favor of the bonus was that the nation owed its veterans a debt of more than just gratitude, particularly in light of the debilitating injuries suffered by some of them.

The argument against it, naturally, was that the country could not afford its $4 billion price tag. I suppose there may have been people who felt it was unfair to the veterans of the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, but I haven't run across any editorial cartoonists saying so.

"He Gets His Bonus" by Winsor McCay for Star Company, ca. Aug. 26, 1922

The Hearst newspaper empire was a vocal proponent of the bonus, presenting a truckload of petitions for it to Senators Hiram Johnson (R-CA) and Lester Volk (R-NY) on the capitol steps.

Given the opposition by Hearst and his newspapers to American entry into the War, his showy support of the bonus was unwelcome, even by its proponents.

"On the Outside" by Orville P. Williams in New York Evening Journal, ca. Aug. 30, 2022

Perhaps Mr. Hearst found more support in the political prisoner community.

Ratification of the Four-Power Treaty

"It Went Through" by Winsor McCay for Star Company, by March 30, 1922

After defeating a series of amendments proposed by treaty opponents, the U.S. Senate ratified Four-Power Treaty among the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan, on March 24, 1922 by a vote of 67 to 27. The lone "reservation" to pass the Senate stipulated that nothing in the treaty should require the U.S. to commit to military action or alliance.

"Getting Rid of the Jinx" by Albert Reid in New York Evening Mail, March, 1922

The vote was bipartisan on both sides: twelve Democrats joined the Republican majority in favor, while four isolationist Republicans voted nay with with the Democratic minority. Quite a few of those Republicans voting aye had been against the international agreements brought home by Democratic President Woodrow Wilson; the Republicans who remained against treaties signed by Republican Warren Harding and Democrats who had been opposed to them all along were called "bitter enders."

"In Spite of All the 'Bitter Enders'..." by Elmer Bushnell for Central Press Assn., by March 29, 1922

If the era of U.S. isolation was over, its end wasn't accepted by all quarters of U.S. isolationism. Foremost among them in American media was the newspaper empire of William Randolph Hearst.

"'Con' and 'Bull'" by Harry Murphy for Star Company, by March 24, 1922

For all Hearst's accusation that the treaty put American interests subservient to those of Great Britain and Japan, by requiring its signatories to consult with each other in the event of any conflict in East Asia the Four-Power Treaty was in fact to America's advantage. American and Japanese interests there and in the Pacific had been in conflict before World War I, and were so again in places like Yap, the Philippines, China, and Siberia.

Under the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of 1902, had the U.S. and Japan gone to war, Great Britain would have been obliged to join Japan against the U.S. But the Four-Powers Treaty superseded the earlier bilateral one.

"Sammy and His Pals" by Frederick Opper for Star Company by March 23, 1922

Hearst's cartoonists nevertheless daily painted a picture of a hapless Uncle Sam tricked into an unwanted alliance, his negotiating team comprised of witless nincompoops bamboozled by wily furriners.

"Some Folks Are Never Satisfied" by Gaar Williams for Chicago Tribune, by March 20, 1922

Isolationism ran strong at "Colonel" McCormick's solidly Republican Chicago Tribune, so it's rather surprising to see one of his cartoonists touting the main advantage to the U.S. of the Four-Party Treaty.

"Post-War Dog" by Gaar Williams for Chicago Tribune, by March 30, 1922

Word must have come down from management that if the Tribune's cartoons couldn't stop the Senate from passing the treaty, they could complain about complying with its limitations on the size of our Army and Navy.

"We're Hardly Going to Hold Our Own" by Gaar Williams for Chicago Tribune, by March 31, 1922

The fact that it also limited the other countries' militaries notwithstanding. The numbers on Williams's rowboats reference the 5:5:3 naval ratio agreed to at the Washington D.C. Naval Conference.

"Those New Boots" by Magnus Kettner for Western Newspaper Union, March, 1922

Outside of the Hearst and Tribune empires, even Magnus Kettner, whose usual fare was the sort of genial, inoffensive slice of life cartoon beloved by circulation managers everywhere, expressed alarm at the treaty's limitations on the U.S. military.

William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, March/April, 1922

William Morris probably correctly divined how Teddy Roosevelt would have felt about trimming the U.S. military, although Morris was one of the many cartoonists helping argue that it was time to do so a little over a year earlier.  

 

I also find it peculiar that Morris felt a need, only three years after Roosevelt's death, to label what appears to me to be an instantly recognizable caricature.

"He Will Not Bother Us Again" by Charles Kuhn in Indianapolis News, by April 13, 1922

In closing, this cautionary note: We can't all be as clairvoyant as this guy.

Major Make-over

I've just returned from a week away from home visiting family, so the last several posts here were written in the weeks before I left, and set to publish automatically in my absence.

That includes Monday's "Sneak Peek" in which I made reference to the single-panel newspaper comic "Our Boarding House with Major Hoople." Unbeknownst to me, last weekend happened to be the centennial of the very first publication of "Our Boarding House." (Major Hoople didn't make his appearance in the panel, originated by Gene Ahern, until January, 1922.)

D.D. Degg's post marking the centennial includes several examples of the comic; I had forgotten that there was a Sunday color comic version. I think I had been surprised to see it somewhere during a family vacation out west in 1973.

Most of the characters are easily recognizable even as the comic was passed down from Gene Ahern through a series of younger artists. But I got to wondering how Ahern — or his successors — accomplished the Major's transition from his original appearance...

"Our Boarding House" by Gene Ahern, ca. 1922

...to the Major I used to know, whose mouth always appeared to be sewn shut.

"Our Boarding House" by Jim Branagen & Tom McCormick, February 5, 1971

Was it sudden, when Hearst hired Ahern away in 1936, or was it more gradual?

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.