Description: This image is a black-and-white reproduction of "The Crown Prince," a political cartoon that graced the cover of "Puck" magazine (v. 60, no. 1535, August 1, 1906). The original illustration, in vibrant color, shows President Theodore Roosevelt (1831-1878) garbed in royal robes and holding on his left shoulder a chubby, pint-sized William Howard Taft (1857-1930) of Ohio, his political "heir apparent." Taft wears a tiny crown and a medallion emblazoned with his last name. According to the Library of Congress, the “throng in the background includes Charles W. Fairbanks, Leslie M. Shaw, Thomas C. Platt, and Joseph G. Cannon.” The artist, Udo J. Keppler (1872-1956), was the son of Joseph Ferdinand Keppler (1838-1894), an Austrian-born cartoonist who emigrated to the United States in 1867. The elder Keppler and a partner, Adolph Schwarzmann, founded “Puck Magazine” in 1871 as a German-language weekly published in St. Louis, Missouri. The magazine soon failed, but in 1876 Keppler and Schwarzmann resurrected “Puck” in New York City as a German-language weekly. A year later they began publishing an English-language edition, whose circulation slowly increased until it reached 80,000 copies per week by the 1880s. Udo Keppler, also a talented cartoonist, joined the staff of “Puck” in 1891, three years before his father died. In honor of his father, the son changed his name to Joseph Keppler, Jr. The biting caricatures in “Puck” skewered many politicians, institutions, and social movements. Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, James Blaine, Joseph Pulitzer, Pope Leo XIII and the Catholic Church, Tammany Hall, and woman suffrage were just a few of its targets. Udo Keppler became interested in Native American causes and remained an activist until his death. In 1899 the Seneca tribe made him an honorary chief. William Randolph Heart purchased “Puck” in 1917, but his efforts to increase circulation failed. It ceased publication in 1918. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05830
Subjects: Cartoons (Commentary)--1900-1910; Political cartoons; Periodical illustration; Cartoonists; Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956; Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930; Magazine covers; Roosevelt, Theodore, 1831-1878; Ohio History--Presidents and Politics
 

Description: Cartoonist Billy Ireland drew this self-caricature, which was from "Accountants Reports and Exhibits," a publication of the American Association of Public Accountants for a meeting held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in October 1907. Ireland portrays himself as an impish figure wearing a plaid suit and a bowler hat, smoking a cigar, and having a pencil tucked behind his left ear. He's carrying a large bottle of ink in his right hand, a briefcase in the other hand, and a large cartoon tucked under his left arm. The briefcase bears a sign that reads: "'Billie Ireland' Official Cartoonist of 'The Ohio Society' 'Meet Me in St. Paul.'" A sign labeled "To St. Paul" is posted next to the railroad tracks down which Ireland is walking. William Addison "Billy" Ireland was born in 1880 in Chillicothe, Ohio. A self-taught artist, Ireland was hired after high school graduation by the "Columbus Dispatch" and spent his entire career with that newspaper until his death on May 29, 1935. Ireland drew editorial cartoons, but he is best known for "The Passing Show," a full-page cartoon strip published in the Sunday edition of the "Dispatch." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05768
Subjects: Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists; Cartoons (Commentary)--1900-1910; Cartoonists; Ireland, Billy, 1880-1935
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Three drawings reflect the concerns of those working in the Republic Steel Corporation's Warren Plant during the 1937 "Little Steel" Strike. Robert Walker drew the cartoons on mailing envelopes; they document unease over receiving mail, violence, and promises made by the Committee for Industrial Organization. The cartoons measure 4.6" by 8" (11.8 by 20.32 cm) and are part of a scrapbook maintained by the Republic Steel Corporation documenting events at its Warren Plant during the strike. The scrapbook is labeled Miscellaneous Communications, Posters and Pictures Relating to the C.I.O. Strike of the Warren Plant of the Republic Steel Corporation, Summer 1937, Vol. III. In June 1936 the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers and the Committee for Industrial Organization (C.I.O.) agreed to a joint effort to organize the steel industry. This led to the formation of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (S.W.O.C.). Soon after the first representatives from the S.W.O.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1619_2587042_001
Subjects: Arts and Entertainment; Business and Labor; Strikes; Steel industry; Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.); Labor unions; Cartoons (Commentary)
Places: Niles (Ohio); Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
 

Description: This pewter figurine depicts the "Yellow Kid," the first popular color newspaper comic in the country. Richard Felton Outcault (1863-1928) of Lancaster, Ohio created the "Yellow Kid" comic about a mischievous Irish boy named Mickey Dugan. The comic strip lasted only from 1896 until 1898, but during that period the public could not get enough of him. It appeared in the New York newspapers several times a week and on Sundays. The popularity of the cartoon led to a new type of merchandising using cartoon characters. Images of the "Yellow Kid" were printed on products ranging from soap to whiskey. The figurine measures 2.36 by 4 inches (6 by 10.2 cm). Richard Felton Outcault studied at McMicken University School of Design in Cincinnati. He worked as an illustrator for Edison Laboratories. Outcault also created the "Buster Brown" cartoon series. Printed in yellow ink, the "Yellow Kid" cartoon debuted in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. It lent its name to "yellow journalism," a form of reporting popular in the late nineteenth century in which sensationalized stories that focused on crime, scandal, entertainment, and catastrophes were common. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1433_1533253_001
Subjects: Literary Ohio; Arts and Entertainment; Advertising; Cartoons (Commentary)
Places: Lancaster (Ohio); Fairfield County (Ohio)