Saturday, August 17, 2024
One-Shot Wonders: A Collection of Weekday Gags, 1904
Here's a collection of gag cartoons that ran in the New York Evening Journal on April 14 1904. Starting at upper left and going clockwise, we have a Jimmy Swinnerton cartoon, two by H.B. Martin, a silhouette cartoon by J.K. Bryans, and another two Martin cartoons.
These are all pretty weak gag cartoons, but the reason I wanted to feature this array is the cartoon in the upper middle by Martin. You may be wondering what the heck is going on there, and rightly so, and there's an interesting explanation. The Indian is dressed in drag, that's him on the right. Why? There was a momenatry fad in 1904 having to do with crossdressing Indians, and Martin was certain enough that everyone was in on it that he didn't need to explain. The fad was brought on by the publication of a novelty song, My Dandy Dainty Redskin Brave, in which the (male) singer is fooled into wooing a high-society Gibson girl type who turns out to be a Native American man. The odd fad song had its very short moment in the sun then disappeared into the mists of time.
Or, maybe the cartoon just had the wrong caption printed with it.
Labels: One-Shot Wonders
