Ice Cream, Ice Cream Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink

"The Navy's First Lord Passes the Grog" by Edmund Duffy in Sun, Baltimore, May 31, 1926

I enjoyed the characterizations of a seaman and Navy Secretary Curtis Wilbur in Edmund Duffy's cartoon, so it gets to lead off today's Graphical History Tour. 

The U.S. didn't have army bases all over Europe during Prohibition, but recruits in the U.S. Navy got to take shore leave in ports where beer, wine, and liquor were sold like, well, beer, wine, and liquor.  

To combat naval inebriation, Wilbur authorized the sale aboardship of chewing gum and the like as something to replace the sailors' appetite for booze. In Duffy's cartoon, Wilbur is mollifying a tar with the offer of an ice cream cone —vanilla, of course — just the thing for a tar's night on the town.

"The Circus" by T.E. Powers in New York Evening Journal, ca. May 7, 1926

T.E. Powers correctly pointed out that the Republican Party platforms of 1920 and 1924 were solidly in favor of Prohibition. He overlooked, however, that there was still significant support of Prohibition within the Democratic Party, particularly in the deep South and the West.

"Something Bound to Happen" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn. ca. May 23, 1926

A bipartisan proposal to allow the manufacture and sale of less intoxicating beverages such as beer and wine had support among Americans who were not so devoted to complete and total abstinence. Liquor would have remained illegal under most versions of modification, with acceptable levels of Alcohol By Volume (ABV) in legalized libations set by the government.

A primary election in Pennsylvania may have been a bellwether of actual public sentiment on the Prohibition issue.

"A Soaking" by Ed LeCocq in Des Moines Evening Tribune, May 20, 1926

Philadelphia Congressman William Scott Vare won the three-way Republican primary race for Senator over Dry candidates Governor Gifford Pinchot and incumbent Senator George W. Pepper on May 18. Vare ran on an anti-Prohibition platform, charging that the Volstead Act was resulting in a police state, and blaming Prohibition for a 300% rise in alcohol-related crimes in Philadelphia.

"The Ship of the Desert" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 20, 1926

The Philadelphia Inquirer dismissed Vare's calls for relaxing, if not repealing Prohibition as a distraction from his well-earned reputation as a machine politician. Nicknamed the "Duke of South Philadelphia," Vare was cozy with gangsters Waxey Gordon and "Lucky" Luciano. The cartoons of its editorial cartoonist, William Hanny, while highly critical of Vare, were mostly predictions that voters would send him down to defeat. 

"And That's What Little Candidates Are Made Of" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, May 28, 1926

National cartoonists conveniently overlooked the other major race in Pennsylvania, to succeed Pinchot as Governor. John S. Fisher narrowly edged out former Lt. Governor Edward E. Beidelman, who, in his legal practice, was more closely associated with the Wet cause than Vare.

"The New Band Wagon" by Wm. Sykes in Life, May 27, 1926

Even at least one international cartoonist (albeit a half-American one) also took gleeful note of Pennsylvania's Republican Senate primary, and his cartoon graced the front page of one of Germany's leading satirical weeklies.

"Der Sieg de Nassen in Pennsylvanien" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, June 13, 1926

(Note: I've attempted to recolor some of Arthur Johnson's cartoon.)

There is a good chance that we shall return to Pennsylvania's Senate campaign in future Graphical History Tours, so let's not get ahead of ourselves there. Suffice it to say for today's purposes that Vare's plurality win encouraged a number of politicians elsewhere to voice their reservations against the Noble Experiment.

"Page Moses" by Gustavo Bronstrup in San Francisco Chronicle, May 29, 1926

But repealing — or modifying — a Constitutional Amendment was never intended to be an easy task. Any celebratory champagne toast would have to wait.

Chewing gum, anyone?

🍸

And so ends Graphical History Tour for another day. Be sure to check in again tomorrow for a much more recent editorial cartoon from your humble scribbler!

Raise the Hindenburg!

I had intended to post this last week, but if we have any motto at Graphical History Tours Ltd., it's "Better Late Than Never."

So here are the late election reports from Weimar Germany.

"Im Katastrophenjahr" by Thomas Theodor Heine in Simplicissimus, Munich, May 4, 1925

He wasn't a candidate in the first round of Germany's presidential election in March, and he only reluctantly accepted the German People's Party nomination a week later, but when the votes were counted, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg had been elected President of the Weimar Republic.

Heine was probably being facetious captioning his cartoon "A united Germany has its President"; Hindenburg received less than half (48.3%) of the votes cast. 

"Goose Stepping Again" by Bill Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, April 28, 1925

Hindenburg was familiar to Americans (and no less to the French and the English) as the leader of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The 77-year-old Generalfeldmarschall’s military career dated from the Austrian-Prussian War in 1866; he tried retiring in 1911 only to be called back to active duty by Kaiser Wilhelmina. 

His electoral victory speech warned the extreme right and left against "rash adventures," and promised that he would govern as an independent.

"Let no one by any chance imagine that henceforth I shall take orders from any political party. The battle is over, and I honestly and unreservedly declare that I am ready to offer my hand to every German for the common task, and I include my former opponents." (Translation per O.D. Tolischus, Washington Herald, April 28, 1925)

"Der Lotse Besteigt das Schiff" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, May 10, 1925

Arthur Johnson's cartoon updates a famous cartoon by Sir John Tenniel in Punch, "Dropping the Pilot," depicting Otto von Bismarck, dismissed as Chancellor by Kaiser Wilhelm in 1890, heading down those stairs. 

"Dropping the Pilot" by John Tenniel in Punch, or the London Chiavari, March 29, 1890

The Tenniel cartoon is well-known in both Britain and Germany, and has been parodied many times when some powerful politician resigned or fell out of favor. It used to be an occasional reference in American editorial cartoons, too; but nowadays it would be an inside joke understood mainly by fellow editorial cartoonists. Your average editor today is more likely to understand a cartoon of Homer Simpson retreating into foliage.

"That Morning After Feeling" by James Fitzmaurice in Vancouver Daily Province, April 28, 1925

Speaking of cartoons that today's editors might have liked, Fitzmaurice's ambivalent regard of Hindenburg's election was very much an outlier among cartoonists in the nations of World War I's Entente. From what I've seen he doesn't seem to have been one for forceful opinions.

"Willie Has Hopes" by Douglas Rodger in San Francisco Bulletin, Apr. 29, 1925

Hindenburg was a declared royalist, and ex-Kaiser Wilhelm Hohenzollern applauded his election, but a return by the Kaiser to the throne six years after the armistice was a far fetched scenario.

"Peek-a-Boo" by Edmund Duffy in The Independent, Boston, May 16, 1925

Alfred von Tirpitz, Admiral of the German Imperial Navy during the war, was responsible for convincing Hindenburg to enter the presidential race.

We left Erich Ludendorff singing forlornly on a mountain in a previous GHT. Coming in dead last in the first heat of the 1925 presidential election, Ludendorff, a vocal proponent of the Dolchstosslegende, the idea that Germany lost the war because of traitorous Germans "stabbing it in the back," withdrew from public affairs. He wasn’t missed. 

"The Black Eye" by A.G. Racey in Montreal Daily Star, Montreal, April 29, 1925

A.G. Racey's strong reaction against Hindenburg's election was typical of most western editorial cartoonists. But in fact, the German presidency was somewhat of a figurehead. The president had no authority to initiate policy, and the coalition behind him in the multi-party legislature did not hold a plurality of seats.

"In der Saddle Again" by Harold M. Talburt for Scripps-Howard, ca. Apr. 29, 1925

Harold Talburt proposed that the election of a monarchist president would be bad for the Germans themselves, burdened as they were with debt and reparations payments. The Kaiser, in the background, hopes to be pulled out of the mud, although nobody in the foreground appears to be equipped for a tow.

"Scaring France and Hurting Germany" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, April 28, 1925

Reaction to Hindenburg's election was especially hostile in France. Le Temps of Paris declared, "The election of von Hindenburg is a defiance to the allies and to America. It is not the political genius of the old man which is disquieting, it is the force of brutal revenge which is behind him." 

Poles and Czechs also responded with trepidation. The Austrian press were disappointed in Hindenburg's election as well, opining that it was a setback in hopes for a union of Austria with Germany. (I'm going to have to look up that Austro-Prussian War someday.) 

"The New Helmet Cover" by Grover Page in Louisville Courier-Journal, April 28, 1925

For his part, Hindenburg sought to reassure the outside world:

"I affirm before the whole world that it has always been my holiest endeavor to prevent new horrors of war and to help to the utmost the victims of past wars. This aim can best be attained by unity, and to serve my people as leader in this sense will be my holiest task." — as reported by Associated Press

"His Hopes May Be Stronger Than His Ship" by Homer Stinson in Dayton Daily News, May 1, 1925

Perhaps alone among western cartoonists, Homer Stinson sang a note of optimism. 

Spoiler alert: Paul von Hindenburg might not have been what the rest of Europe needed to worry about.

This Week's Sneak Peek

The saga continues:

The editorial cartoon is not a traditional outlet for long form story telling, but it's not unheard of. Bill Sanders, for example, devoted a week of cartoons to a continuing story about a couple of student protesters. Harold Talburt made a series of "Klampaigning" cartoons during the 1924 election, adding a new participant to a fanciful campaign parade each day.

The Pulitzer board would add "Doonesbury" and "Bloom County" as examples of serial editorial cartoons — and Sunday's episode of the former would lend credence to that categorization. By the same token, one could add "Pogo" to that list. (But not "Mallard Fillmore." If Bruce Tinsley ever incorporated a continuous story line in his strip, I missed it.)

Recurring series are more common. Tom Toles featured the Continuing Adventures of Ronnie Raygun from time to time. David Low created the character of Colonel Blimp to satirize British conservatism (especially the views of Lord Beaverbrook, owner of  London Evening Standard, Low's employer). My Graphical History Tours have visited Frederick Opper's running series such as Freeneasy Film Company and Sammy and His Pals.

But again, those series didn't tell a continuous story — not even Opper's, running on consecutive days for weeks and months at a time.

Since I'm committed to the Leo In Federal Detention story now, yes, the saga continues.

Sorry, Leo.

Inaugural Addresses, and Justice Denied

Our Graphical History Tour arrives in March of 1925 today, just in time for the inauguration of John Calvin Coolidge for his very own full term as President of the United States.

"The Inaugural Address..." by William Ceperley in Davenport Democrat, March 4, 1925

Coolidge's address focused on lauding the peacetime economic boom the country was enjoying. His themes of personal liberties and free markets are bound to show up again and again in Jeff Bezos-approved Washington Post editorials.

American editorial cartoonists paid more attention to Vice President Dawes, who used his inaugural speech to lambaste the Senate rules for "unlimited debate," more commonly known as the filibuster.

"Say, Listen" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, March 5, 1925

Senate rules at the time allowed any one senator or group of senators to prevent any measure from coming to a vote, which the Coolidge administration blamed for failure to get some of its priorities passed into law. A two-thirds vote of the Senate was required to end a filibuster; and invoking cloture against any one Senator's wishes dated back only to 1917. 

Even after 1917, invoking cloture needed bipartisan support; although Republicans held a solid majority in the chamber most of that time, their majority fell short of the two-thirds threshold.

"It's Going to Be a Terrible Strain" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, March 6, 1925

The two-thirds rule survived Vice President Dawes's objections, and wasn't reduced to three-fifths until 1975. That threshold remains in effect today, except for approving judicial and cabinet nominations (lowered to 50% in 2010).

"Something Tells Us This Will Be Worth Watching" by Bill Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, March 6, 1925

When the Senate convened in March of 1925 to establish its rules for the upcoming session, however, Vice President Dawes was not present to swear the members in. (Remember how Kamala Harris was responsible for swearing in our current Senators in January?) No matter, decided the world's most deliberative body. The Senators decided to consider themselves all sworn into office regardless.

"But Sheridan Was Forty Miles Away" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. March 13, 1925

Meanwhile, most of Coolidge's new cabinet easily passed congressional approval, with one prominent exception.

His Attorney General nominee, Charles B. Warren, could have been easily confirmed for any other post in Coolidge's cabinet. But he was suspected of not supporting the Sherman Anti-Trust Act dating because of his role as counsel in 1902 for Michigan sugar interests. When the Senate rejected Warren's nomination by a tie vote, Vice President Dawes was again absent — reportedly taking a nap — and did not cast his tie-breaking vote.

"Bet I Know One Vote That'll Be on Hand" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, March 13, 1925

President Coolidge simply resubmitted Warren's nomination, but the confirmation vote in the Senate fell short a second time — even with the Vice President awake and presiding. 

"Maybe Charlie Gave Old Dobbin an Overdose" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1925

Just one day after that stinging defeat, the Senate consented to Coolidge's nomination of John G. Sargent, a childhood friend of Coolidge's and a former Vermont Attorney General, to head the U.S. Justice Department.

"Never Stab an Elephant in the Back" by Ed Gale in Los Angeles Times, March 11, 1925

Progressive Republicans had employed their gains in the 1922 elections to take some congressional committee chairmanships. Those deals were now off; Senate leaders punished Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette and other "insurgents" who had supported his third-party presidential bid, deposing them from those chair positions and transferring them to less influential committees.

"Al, and William, Come Out" by William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, ca. March 6, 1925

As for the Democrats, Coolidge's landslide victory left them a party in the wilderness. Nominal leaders of the Democratic Party Al Smith and William MacAdoo were still licking their wounds from their bruising convention battle. And as far as cartoonists were concerned, The Democrats' last two presidential candidates, Cox and John Davis, had already returned to the obscurity whence they had come.

"Wouldn't It Be Easier to Catch a New One" by Wm. Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, March 10, 1925

The GOP-aligned Philadelphia Inquirer editors and their cartoonist, William Hanny, appear to have spotted an up-and-comer in the opposition. (Even if Hanny didn't quite have a convincing caricature of FDR just yet.)

Child Labor Amendent

In light of a Republican congresscretin proposing that schoolchildren find gainful employment rather than eat school lunches, our Graphical History Tour stop for today looks at a proposed 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution a century ago this month. 

"The Shadow on the States" by O.P. Williams in New York American, ca. Jan. 29, 1925

The Supreme Court had overturned previous measures passed to outlaw, regulate, or tax child labor in Hammer v. Dagenhart and Bailey v. Drexel Furniture; so, with the support of African-American organizations, unions, teachers' federations, women's rights organizations, and religious groups, the House and Senate approved the amendment in 1924, sending it to the states for ratification.

The text of the Child Labor Amendment:

Section 1. The Congress shall have the power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age.

Section 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress.

"Mowing Them Down" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Jan. 26, 1925

In January, California and Arizona joined Arkansas in ratifying the proposed constitutional amendment; Wisconsin passed ratification in February.

"Of Such Is the Kingdom of Greed" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1, 1925

In the same time, North Dakota, Utah, Idaho and Kansas rejected the amendment, although they reversed their stand and voted to ratify it during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Meanwhile, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana had already voted it down in 1924; Delaware, Connecticut and South Carolina also rejected the amendment in the first two months of 1925.

"Who Said Henpecked" by Grover Page in Louisville Courier-Journal, Feb. 1, 1925

Opposition to the amendment was led by business groups and, as Grover Page's cartoon illustrates, "states' rights" advocates in southern states.

By 1937, only 28 states ratified the Child Labor Amendment, eight short of the number required by the Constitution. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, however, limiting child labor (as well as establishing a minimum wage and mandating overtime pay) was upheld by the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Darby Lumber Co. in 1941, and ratifying the Child Labor Amendment became unnecessary.

Given our present Court's disdain for precedent, that could always change.

No time limit was set for the amendment's ratification, meaning that it could still be added to the Constitution. Because of the entry into the union of Alaska and Hawai'i in 1959, it would require ratification by ten more states, not just eight.

Keep Kartooning with Koolidge

Having caught up with the LaFollette and Davis campaigns last week, today our Graphical History Tour checks in with President Calvin Coolidge and his whirlwind campaign for a full four years in the White House.

by Charles "Bill" Sykes in Life magazine, Oct. 2 1924

Charles Sykes here scoffs at President Calvin Coolidge's campaign message of "common sense" government. Coolidge whistles past the political issues burying ground, haunted by tariff troubles, scandals left over from the Harding presidency, the Ku Klux Klan, and "our foreign policy."

"The Wide Open Spaces" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sept. 29, 1924

Of the four, the Klan was certainly not a dead issue. The secretive society wielded influence not just in the solidly Democratic south, but had also made significant inroads in the Republican Party, winning gubernatorial and senate primaries in Indiana and Maine. But Democratic and Progressive leaning cartoonists lambasted Coolidge for not speaking out against the Klan.

by Grover Page in Louisville Courier-Journal, Oct. 13, 1924

Coolidge supposedly believed that his best option was to ignore the Klan and thus deprive it of the publicity a presidential statement would afford. His running mate, Charles Dawes, did speak out against the Klan, and forcibly so; as did John Davis and Robert LaFollette, the presidential nominees of the Democratic and Progressive Parties, respectively. When Coolidge finally did condemn the Klan by name, it was fully a year after this election was over.

"Silence Gives Consent" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Sept. 2, 1924

"Keep Kool with Koolidge" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Sept. 13, 1924

In could be what we cartoonist call a "Yahtzee," J.P. Alley and Harold Talburt both depict a klansman proudly misspelling the Republicans' election slogan. Or perhaps Talburt brazenly swiped the idea from Alley, who drew it first.

"Still Klampaigning" by Harold Talburt for NEA, ca. Sept. 15, 1924

In fact, Talburt liked the idea so much that he made a week-long series out of it, adding a new character to the parade each day.

"Klampaigning—Knumber V" by Harold Talburt for NEA, ca. Sept. 17, 1924

By the end of the series, the parade behind the Klansman included former Ambassador to Great Britain George Harvey, Charles Dawes, New Hampshire Congressman Foster W. Stearns, campaign manager William Butler, and Coolidge himself bringing up the rear.

"The Actions of 'Silent Cal'" by Ed Gale in Los Angeles Times, Sept. 10, 1924

Okay, I was being sarcastic at the top of this post. "Silent Cal" waged no whirlwind campaign. He wasn't raising the roofs of auditoriums and airport tarmacs packed with cheering fans. To his mind, the way to be elected president was to get down to the work of being President.

"The Crew That Brought This Dirigible In" by Charles Kuhn in Indianapolis News, Oct. 17, 1924

Kuhn's cartoon here references the arrival at Lakehurst Naval Station of U.S. Navy dirigible USS Los Angeles, 81 hours after departing from its German construction site at Friedrichshafen, Germany. For those of you reading on tiny devices, the crew in Kuhn's cartoon are Stability, Prosperity, Common Sense Government, Economy, and Efficiency.

Oh, by the way, I have still not found any mention of the Klan from Mr. Kuhn.

"Ho, Hum" by J.P. Alley in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Sept. 20, 1924

Coolidge was satisfied to let his running mate take care of all the campaign speechifying, flesh-pressing, and, I presume, baby-kissing. If Dawes had any complaints about it, he confided them only to J.P. Alley.

Since I've brought up Mr. Dawes again, I'll mention that Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart touched off some fireworks by calling for Coolidge to dump him from the Republican ticket. Please excuse the mailing label here:

"What a Noisy World" by James Donahey in Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 2, 1924

Brookhart, one of those pesky Progressive Republicans, opined that Coolidge should replace Dawes, a diplomat and former Director of the Budget lauded for his proposal to resolve Europe's war reparations dispute, with someone from the "Farm Bloc."

Not that the Iowa Senator had any particular farm bloc politician in mind, of course.

The Democrats' 103rd Choice

It’s time to check in on the 1924 Democratic National Convention and find out whether the party Will Rodgers belonged to had figured out who its candidate for president was.

"Sea Sick" by William Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 1924

When we left the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the leading contenders were William McAdoo, lately of California, and Al Smith, Governor of New York; a host of other candidates hoped to capitalize when one of the leaders fell.

As the convention entered its second week, seven ballots were cast on July 1; but the Democrats were no closer to agreeing on their standard bearer than when they had begun.

"As Berryman Views the Convention" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (DC) Evening Star, July 2, 1924

A tradition we are sadly losing these days is newspapers sending their editorial cartoonists to political conventions to send back their sketches of the activity on the floor. Clifford Berryman's sketchbook entries included future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, returning to politics after being sidelined by polio, and Woodrow Wilson's red-baiting Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer.

"Platform Carpenters Produce Plank Mentioning No Names" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 1, 1924

Meanwhile, as the balloting for the party's nominee dragged on, cartoonists' work on editorial pages took on the issues bedeviling the platform committee.

"Forgot to Look Under the Bed" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 2, 1924

A proposed plank to condemn the Ku Klux Klan drew strong opposition from the populists, and many rural southern and western delegates.

"Pandora" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Public Record, ca. July 1, 1924

Nor could delegates agree on a party position on prohibition. Many of McAdoo’s delegates stood in defense of Prohibition and the Klan; Smith supporters were against both. 

"Where to Now, Sam" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 3, 1924

"Ding" Darling was another cartoonist attending the convention; and while several of his cohorts were sending rough sketches to their editors, Darling was sending home fully realized editorial cartoons. This is one of four Darling cartoons in the Register that day, and it highlights a significant issue overlooked by many other editorial cartoonists: Democrats' alienation of the labor vote in favor of Wall Street and the South.

"Why Not Something Permanent for the Future" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 8, 1924

One consequence of the convention dragging on and on was that delegates were overstaying their hotel reservations, and, presumably in some cases, their funds.  

William McAdoo maintained a lead through the 77th ballot, but never attained a majority of the votes, let alone the required two-thirds supermajority required by party rules.

"Aw, Give a Feller a Chance" by William A. Rogers in New York World, July, 1924

The Library of Congress dates this William Rogers cartoon August of 1925. I've checked, and the Democrats were not still trying to decide on their nominee ten months after the election. It's the date written in the lower left corner, but it must be the date when Rogers gave the original of the cartoon to F.R. Tyler (if I'm reading the script correctly).  

"Just Can't Understand It" by Albert T. Reid in Rutland Daily Herald, July 17, 1924

Seeing that the nomination would never be his, McAdoo withdrew from the race. Many of his supporters flocked to Indiana Senator Samuel Ralston. Ralston declined to disavow support of the Klan, and enjoyed what political writers of the day called a "boom"; but in the end, the 300-lb., 66-year-old Hoosier heeded his doctor's advice and dropped out of the race.

Alfred Smith led the pack in ballots 86 through 93, and again on ballots 99 and 100. But the candidate of the host of the convention couldn't win the support of one-third of the delegates, let alone two-thirds of them, and ultimately faced the music and pulled out of the race.

"Just as the Roof Fell In" by Edward Gale in Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1924

Finally, on the 103rd ballot, the nomination went to "dark horse" candidate John W. Davis, formerly a congressman from West Virginia and Ambassador to Great Britain, who had come in third on most of the earlier ballots.

"Started at Last" by Douglas Rodger in San Francisco Bulletin, July 11, 1924

To balance the ticket, the vice presidential nod went to Charles W. Bryan, the populist Governor of Nebraska and brother of perennial presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

"Those Cyclones Do Play the Queerest Tricks" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 11, 1924

I ran across quite a few tornado references in July, 1924 editorial cartoons. It's the season for such storms, after all.

"Trying to Take Out the Soreness" by J.N. Darling in Des Moines Register, July 14, 1924

The elder Bryan got over his earlier opposition to Davis and fell in with the new party line. 

These cartoons portraying a diminutive Charles Bryan remind me of R.C. Bowman's cartoons of William Bryan and his 1900 running mate, Adlai Stevenson.

"And Yet He Asks Your Votes" possibly by O.P. Williams for Star Company July 12, 1924

Not everyone was willing to become Davis fans. I'm guessing that the above cartoon was by O.P. Williams, even though I can't spot his typically tiny signature on it. The shading is in Williams's style, and he was a regular feature of the Washington Herald editorial page, which ran this cartoon.

"You Wait and See" by Rollin Kirby in New York World, July, 1924

One of the party defectors denouncing Davis was Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who may or may not be the object of Rollin Kirby's cartoon above. 

"Watch 'Battling Bob' Bust Up the Love Feast" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. July 21, 1924

Wheeler would accept the second spot on Robert LaFollette's Progressive Party ticket — its third party convention being held in Cleveland, Ohio during the second week of the Democrats' convention.

"Real Cause for Alarm" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 7, 1924