The age-herald., 1898-03-23
The Caricatures of Nations,
 And Someihlng of Their Origin

At this time when the daily journals or the country are filled with caricatures or the United States and Spain and much national sentiment is expressed in weii-coh- ceived. well-drawn cartoons it Is natural 10 begin to inquire into the origin of such oe signs. All Americans have become so thoroughly familiar with the grotesque, good-humored representations of "uncle Sam" that these trayesties have been for several generations accepted without ques- tioning or investigation, like stories of the Boston tea party, the winter at Valley Forge. or any other facts in history, which are a part of the heritage of the people of this country. Occasionally one stum- bles upon an investigator who insists upon delving deeply down into the archieVes .of the past and establishing reason for the existence of certain facts, in other words, an energetic historical eXcayator. Such an one is answered thus, by the Listener in the Boston Transcript, In regard to the un- gainly figures selected to represent the United States and Great Britain in pictorial art:
 The evolution of the figure seems to be natural and applicable enough. Everybody knows that the typical American Is a leaner man than the typical Englishman, with a longer and thinner face. There are lots of short and fat Yankees, but the effect of the American climate on the English type has been on the whole elongatlng ana desiccating. The first requisite of car toon is that it shall be funny, and, conse- uuently, characteristics are always exag- gerated in cartoons The artist expresses the difference between Amei jeans and Eng lishmen by making the American longer and thinner than he need be and the Eng lishman shorter and fatter. As the typ1- cal Englishman Is supposed to be pig-head- ed and arrogant the pictured John Bulls face expresses these qualities in hlgn degree. As the typical Yankee Is supposed to be shrewd and calculating though k1p- ling says he really is noD, it is necessary to exaggerate these qualities in his carl catured face. But within these require ments there is a good deal of latitude.
 The type of the incarnated nationality may change slowly, and evolve in years ln- to something different from its beginning, but a considerable degree of adherence to a conventional form is absolutely neces- sary The principle explains the costumes of Brother Jonathan and of John Bull Ihe practice of necessarily making pictures or Brother Jonathan dates only from the timo when tight trousers, with straps passing under the hollow of the foot to prevent them from working up, were worn; when rolling coat collars were in vogue, and bell-crowned, fuzzy tall hats were in fash ion. Such was the cut of the original Jon athan's garments, simply following the fashion of the time; and such the cut or them remains with slight variations. As to the starry and striped material Of the garments, that is of course a little satire on the undeniabe American habit of vaunt- ing the flag on all occasions. Nothing in the whole range of caricature was ever more pat and proper than the dressing of Brother Jonathan in the stars and stripes The patriotic American bourgeois has so superstitious a regard for his flag that he often values the symbol above the thing symbolzed in fact, he sometimes forsets the symbolized thing altogether. Brother Jonathan dressed in anything but his ste-" ry and striped garments wo''e not be Jonathan at all.
 The Jobr 3ull picture seems to have crystelized into it's present shape as the result of the skill of John Leech and Cruik- shank-or possibly some caricaturist just before them Johns costume is practically that in which Mr. Pickwick was clad. In- deed, John Bull is MT. Pickwick made lit- tie more canny and a little less amiable. The fiat stiff hat and the other articles of dress now conventional with John Bull were actually worn by Englishmen early in the present century Of course, the use of that term John Bull as personi- fication of the English nation goes back into the eighteenth century but the practice of cartooning was not common and in- cessant enough then to crystalize the form and costume. Punch and John Leech did that.