Thanksgiving Leftovers

This week's installment of Stuffingback Saturday takes another rummage through the ancient vaults in search of the answer to the question: "What Thanksgiving gags did editorial cartoonists draw before we all drew about political fights dividing the family at the dinner table?"

"Cousin Ed's Folks from Town" by Burt Thomas in Detroit News, November 1916

I usually try to keep these cartoons as close to their centennial as possible, but my source for these first three, Cartoons Magazine, tended to run holiday-themed cartoons (for any holiday) from earlier years. The December, 1919 edition, for example, included the above Burt Thomas cartoon, which is clearly dated 1916. That's quite understandable, with Thanksgiving coming after the December edition's deadline; who would still be interested in Thanksgiving cartoons when the January edition came out?

In 1919, their dilemma was that a lot of cartoons drawn for Thanksgiving 1918 expressed thanks that the boys would be coming home soon from the War that had ended two weeks earlier. Thus, it's hard for me to tell what year the other cartoons in that issue were from.

"The Good Old Days" by Ted Brown in Chicago Daily News, Nov. 1919?

Here's a cartoon by Ted Brown from the December, 1920 edition; there's a chance that Cartoons Magazine might have saved it from 1919 when complaints about the cost of living were in vogue. (So this is the thanks the First Americans get for inviting the pilgrim colonists to the First Thanksgiving!)

"Breaking into the Big League" by Archibald Chapin in St. Louis Republic, Nov. 1918 or earlier

I don't know what things were like in the Chapin household, but I hope the young lady in this cartoon soon figured out that there are many reasons why it's a bad idea to keep a birdcage over the stove.

"Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feelin'" by Clare Briggs in New York Tribune, Nov. 27, 1919

In the Briggs household, the kids had to wait until the adults were done eating before they were permitted to come to the table. And if this were not at least a fairly common practice, don't you think Briggs's readers would have shamed him en masse after this cartoon was nationally syndicated?

No, I suppose that if your apartment wasn't large enough to accommodate a separate children's table, you had to make do by teaching the children The Virtue Of Patience. We know now that the grown-ups in 1919 who feasted while their children's stomachs growled in the next room would, just as those kids became adults, bequeath them the Great Depression.

But would those kids snark "OK, Homer" at them? I think not.

"What Are You Thankful For" by William Hanny in St. Joseph News-Press, Nov. 27, 1919

Editorial cartoonists looking to tie the holiday in with serious issues could, like William Hanny, bemoan the strikes by workers demanding a greater share of corporate profits now that the War was over. Few cartoonists displayed sympathy for striking coal miners, steel workers and trainmen, since most homes were heated by coal, and the private automobile was only just beginning to rival train travel.

What the deal is with "The Common Pee-ple," I have no idea. Perhaps Hanny's original idea involved likening the strikes to a urinary tract infection.

"The Long and Short of It" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 25, 1919

As I mentioned before, the high cost of living was a frequent theme of 1919 editorial cartoons. Nelson Harding offers plenty of drumstick for the holiday — emphasis on the stick.

"The Vacant Chairs" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 27, 1919 

John McCutcheon's Uncle Sam celebrated the holiday with Extravagance, Unrest and the High Cost of Living, but at least half of the invited guests were AWOL. Why Uncle Sam invited any of them in the first place is anyone's guess.

Well, I suppose it was only charitable of him to invite Hunger and Hard Times to dinner.

But since I can't leave you with the impression that Thanksgiving in 1919 was all grousing and peevishness, let us close with a cartoonist who, like Clare Briggs above, perceived his era through quaintly rose-colored spectacles:

"The Thrill that Comes Once in a Lifetime" by Harold T. Webster in New York Tribune, November 27, 1919

After all, the era would have wanted to be remembered that way.

Q Toon: Chick-Fil-Addict

The Religious Reich have their panties in a wad because Chick-Fil-A Inc. has decided that alienating potential LGBTQ customers isn't as promising a business model as they thought it was.

The chain announced Monday that it will discontinue its donations to several Christian organizations that oppose same-sex marriage, including the Salvation Army, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“We made multi-year commitments to both organizations, and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018,” a representative for Chick-fil-A said in a statement, adding that the chain will now focus its charitable donations on “education, homelessness, and hunger.”

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins harrumphed:

It was never about the chicken. For millions of Americans, there was a much deeper significance behind every decision to pull in the parking lot and walk through those doors. It wasn’t about the menu. It wasn’t even about the service.
It was that every time someone ate there, they were making a cultural statement. ...
Now, some of you might argue that walking away from the Salvation Army or Fellowship of Christian Athletes isn’t an endorsement of an LGBT agenda. But it is exactly that. And here’s why. Chick-fil-A didn’t just switch their giving practices, they broadcasted it.
One of the saddest parts of this is that Chick-fil-A didn’t just compromise their witness. They dragged thousands of godly men and women into the pit with them — owners, employees, and franchisees who never signed up for this.

When LGBTQ activists were urging a boycott of Chick-Fil-A, the Religious Reich urged their flock to "EAT MOR CHIKIN" with every meal. Now it's the RRs and their government minions who want to stage a boycott. I haven't caught wind of any LGBTQ advocates calling for our community to start gorging ourselves on chicken sandwiches, however.

But if the turkey on Ellen DeGeneres's Thanksgiving table looks rather small, you can guess why.

Conan Isn't Himself Lately

In case you missed it, Trump had Conan (the dog who chased al-Baghdadi into a cave, not the late-night TV host) over to the White House to praise the dog's bravery under fire. This is what Trump had to say about the heroic Belgian Malinois (stamps available at your local post office, and I'm not kidding):

"I was told about the breed and I was told about Conan himself. Conan is a tough cookie. And nobody is going to mess with Conan." 

But wait. The Army then revealed that Conan isn't a himself. She's a herself.

Maybe.

“Just in: #Conan, the hero dog from the al-Baghdadi raid, is in fact a GIRL, a U.S. defense official tells ABC News,” reporter Elizabeth McLaughlin tweeted.
Minutes later, the Pentagon weighed in, writing in a statement to The Washington Post that “per U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Conan is a male dog.” ...
Perhaps experiencing whiplash over the conflicting reports that Conan was male female male, some news outlets removed all references to the dog’s sex or simply referred to Conan as “it.”

Word in the kennel is that Conan (the dog, not the guy who took over "The Apprentice") prefers "they, them, their."

Thanksgiving Week's Sneak Peek

Way back during the 2016 campaign, Buzzfeed commissioned Mark Davis to create the "Tiny Hand" font based on a photograph of Donald Berzelius Trump's handwritten notes for his second debate with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I downloaded the free font at the time, thinking that even though Trump was unlikely to be elected president (hah!), it might still be handy for use in cartoons. I spend an awful lot of time on lettering, especially in multi-panel cartoons, and someday having a shortcut will be worth it. I used it for the syndication notice for a while, and for the caption of maybe one or two cartoons.

There has been renewed interest in the font after photographers snapped photos of Trump's "I Want Nothing" notes last week. The most interesting observation that I've read is that Trump probably needs glasses but is too vain to wear them. He's not going to any optometrist that can't be bribed to state unequivocally that he has the healthiest eyeballs ever elected to the presidency.

There is no Tiny Hands font in this week's cartoon, but this week's sneak peek offers an example of what it might look like if there were. Or you can jump back to my parody of Trump's notes, which caught more attention than last week's syndicated cartoon has.

Hung Out to Dry

Soberback Saturday left off last week with the observation that the Senate's failure to ratify the Treaty of Versailles meant that the U.S. remained at war, and wartime prohibition of the production and sale of alcoholic beverages would, ipso facto, remain in effect.

"The Crow and the Pitcher" by Carey Orr in Chicago Tribune, Oct. 30, 1919

Of course, had the Senate ratified of the treaty, it would not have repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, which expressly prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, or the importation thereof into" the U.S.

The Volstead Act, named for House Judiciary Chair Andrew Volstead (R-MN), codified the Eighteenth Amendment into law, by defining "intoxicating liquors," establishing the penalties for breaking the law, and extending enforcement power to the states.

Efforts to undo the Act were bipartisan: President Wilson vetoed the Act on grounds that its sections regarding the enforcement of wartime measures were moot. Republican Elihu Root argued before the Supreme Court that the Eighteenth Amendment itself was an unconstitutional seizure of property (specifically in his case, of beer brewed prior to Prohibition) without compensation. And in Ohio, a 1918 amendment to the state constitution required that a statewide referendum approve any ratification of amendments to the federal constitution; Ohio's legislature ratified the Eighteenth Amendment in January, 1919, but the referendum in November, 1919, went down to the wire.

"Giddap" by Sid Chapin in St. Louis Republic, Oct./Nov., 1919

But support for Prohibition was also bipartisan. It took less than three hours for the House to override Wilson's veto of the Act on October 27, and 27 Democratic Senators helped the Senate follow suit the next day.

"The Argufyingest Corpse We Ever Saw" by Billy Ireland in Columbus Dispatch, ca. Dec., 1919

The Supreme Court would take a bit more time to rule against Mr. Root's client. "To limit the power of Congress so that it may require discontinuance only after a reasonable time from the passage of the act would seriously restrict it in the exercise of the war powers," Justice Brandeis wrote for the majority.

"Darn It, I'm Beginning to Believe It's So" by Charles "Bill" Sykes in Philadelphia Public Ledger, ca. Jan. 6, 1920

The Court would also rule Ohio's referendum requirement unconstitutional, Justice William Day writing that in the U.S. Constitution, ratification of constitutional amendments is explicitly "limited to two methods, by action of the legislatures of three-fourths of the States, or conventions in a like number of States."

"Better Days" by Hal Coffman in Los Angeles Examiner, Nov. 24, 1919

There were still cartoonists such as Hal Coffman preaching the benefits of Prohibition, but some undesired side effects of the Eighteenth Amendment were already making themselves felt. A thriving bootlegging underground had sprung up to satisfy the thirst of anyone who didn't have a stash in his cellar or needed his bathtub for anything other than the making of gin.

"Which of You Own This Dog" by William C. Morris for George Matthew Adams Service, ca. Nov. 23, 1919

As John D. Rockefeller would put it in 1932,

When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.

"The Anti-Camouflage Specialists at Work" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, Nov. 7, 1919

Nevertheless, flushed with his movement's success in subjugating the saloon industry on this side of the pond, American prohibition activist William Eugene "Pussyfoot" Johnson sought to bring Prohibition to Great Britain. Johnson had earned his nickname back before the turn of the century by going undercover into Oklahoma bars to gather information against their owners.

"The Statue of Liberty" by Percy H. "Poy" Fearon in London Evening News, Nov., 1919

His British visit did not go well.

At a speaking engagement at London's Essex Hall on November 13, 1919, he was seized by a mob of medical students who paraded him through the streets of London on a stretcher. Someone in the crowd hit him with a projectile, putting out his right eye. He was eventually rescued by police, but doctors were unable to save his eye.

"You Can Lead a Horse to Water..." by ___ in Morning Advertiser, London, Nov., 1919

I haven't been able to track down this cartoonist, whose caricature of Pussyfoot Johnson is closer to the real person than that of "Poy" Fearon, who made no attempt to capture his likeness. I'm guessing that it might have been published before the November 13 incident; but then, Johnson is drawn from the left side.

The Morning Advertiser, incidentally, is a biweekly trade publication founded in 1794 to promote the interests of British pub owners and managers, and is still publishing.

EnviroStewardship: Leaving the Leaves

Dad's Environmental Stewardship column for the month somehow went missing from my inbox, so I had to go pick up a hard copy yesterday. We've had a thaw since he wrote this last weekend, so I can just add that he has raked up the leaves that were plowed onto his front yard. But the grass in back is still covered up.

🍂

Back in November of last year, I suggested that procrastination in the clean-up of the yard and garden beds might be a very good thing for birds, bees, and beneficial insects. I have no way of knowing whether anybody chose to follow that suggestion, but this year, Mother Nature seems to have decided for us.

At the time I am writing this essay, it is well below freezing. The yard and garden beds are covered with several inches of snow and leaves with dead portions of plants still uncut still sticking up through the snow. Even those leaves raked into the gutter for city pick-up and composting have been plowed back onto the lawn in a couple of feet of ice and snow.

The sudden cold snap that started in October may have been hard on some birds and other creatures, but many already are benefiting from the mulch of leaves and snow. The bees and other beneficial insects have burrowed into the ground under it all and are set to hibernate. Birds are enjoying the seeds left on the dried up plants.

We might have a very late Indian Summer in which one can once again decide to rake the lawn, chop up the leaves into a better mulching, clean up the gardens... or not. Whatever one decides, one should take into consideration the other creatures with which we share this earth.

Man — and Woman — were given dominion or governance over this earth, so we should be sure that what we do for ourselves does not unnecessarily put too high a cost on the other creatures. I prefer to say we were given stewardship of the earth. All the earth is the Lord's, as the psalmist says, but He apparently needs or wants stewards to help Him run it.

To quote the ELCA Social Statement on Caring for Creation once again, "The principle of participation means they [all living things] are entitled to be heard and have their interests considered when decisions are made." Even small decisions about our yards and gardens.

—John Berge

Q Toon: Bent Out of Shape

I could have left "when he walks" out of this cartoon, and I rather wish I had.

👞

Observers this week have puzzled over the president's peculiar posture, standing with his upper body center of gravity way in front of that of the lower half.

It may have something to do with the lift shoes he wears to artificially augment his height. It also has the side effect of causing him to lean forward in a disturbing manner toward people he meets.

Such forward-leaning posture has the secondary body language effect of encroaching into others’ personal space (intimate space) during greetings and other interactions. In addition to him being physically closer, we also feel emotionally uncomfortable whenever we think something/someone may fall over onto us.

I suspect that falling over onto people would ruin the Dominant Male vibe Mr. Trump is going for. One of these days, he's liable to tumble onto the Prime Minister of Nambia after one too many UK Sudafeds.