Representations of class and war in the Yellow Kid based on “The War Scare in Hogan’s Alley” (March 15, 1896) from the New York series

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Description

3 Analysis
3.1 Monroe Doctrine
3.2 The Children of Hogan’s Alley
3.3 Labor Union

4 Conclusion

5 References

6 Appendix

1 Introduction

“Though many of Pekar’s short pieces look very much like gag comic strips, they usually end on a reflective or ambiguous note.” (Witek 133).

This quotation is an apposite remark on Harvey Pekar’s oeuvre as well as it describes Richard Felton Outcault’s comic series The Yellow Kid. His detailed pictures do not only offer the obvious facts, but often carry an underlying meaning. With that said, I want to discuss the issue of representations of class and war in the comic page The War Scare in Hogan’s Alley printed on March 15, 1896 in the New York World (appendix A). By answering the following questions “Which kinds of war does Outcault depict in his comic page? How does he portray these variations of war? In what kind of range do the different immigrant representations enact a part for the interpretation of the war issue?” I argue that Outcault presents the war in a very positive way.

In 1895 numerous immigrant groups had already settled in New York. (Boyer et. al. 377). Their influence and participation in society became more and more important, which several artists had recognized and used for their comic series. Only printed in black and white before, Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World“[…] which had the highest newspaper circulation in Manhattan, published the nation’s first comic supplement in color newsprint on May 21, 1893” (Blackbeard 23). Now reaching the tremendous group of immigrant non-reader-ship with colored but cheap cartoons, the sales figures increased rapidly. In 1894, Pulitzer discovered Richard Felton Outcault and gave him the chance to draw a series of funny pictures including short-term political issues for his newspaper, what led slowly to the invention of the Yellow Kid (comp. Blackbeard 24).

Outcault’s comics show another perspective of people’s struggle with daily routines in several Sunday newspapers. Only thirty years after the Civil War campaigning had not come to an end yet. Relations among societies were tense and the “melting pot” New York produced different kinds of prejudices and aversions. Children of all immigrant groups fight for their education, animals act as models of society, constantly combating and thus mirroring the behavior of the kids around them. The comic strips meanwhile depict the reality of war in a colorful and carefree kind of way. Especially this comic page shows public interest in war, since its title is The War Scare in Hogan’s Alley.

2 Description

At center of Outcault’s comic page a group of different immigrant children is lining up with weapons. Framed by three American flags in the background and two dogs, which are often used to portray America, in the front it is clear on the first glance what they are about to fight for. They carry not only rifles, but also signs on sticks to proclaim their interest in that: “DOWN WIT INGLAND DEY DON’T KNOW WHAT DEYS UP AGAINST B’GEE”, “DOWN WIT SPANE – FITZSIMMONS IS WIT US – AN SAY! WE WON’T DO A TING TO EM”, “[…] AMERICA FOR AMERICANS OR ANY BODY ELSE”, “WE DON’T KNOW VENEZUELA BUT WE ARE WIT HIM TRO TICK & TROO THIN ALL RIGHT”, “WHY DON’T ENGLAND TURN DE X RAYS ONTO DER MONROE DOCTORING AN DEY KIN SEE WOTS IN IT – YURROPE WILL RUE DE DAY SHE STIRRED UP HOGANS ALLEY”.

Since Outcault never uses speech balloons to let human beings outer something, but only animals, he does here as well. Blackbeard argues Outcault experimented with new ways of including text in an image, after he often used in-panel-texts. The more crowded the cartoons became, it was not possible to use captions any more (29). Instead, he uses signs and placards (37). The yellow kid, Mickey Dugan, in the lower front of the picture, raises one arm and points to the young man on the right half of the picture. Wearing a blue uniform-like garment, his left hand resting on the hip and holding a dog leash, he holds up a sword with his right hand in an aggressive attitude. Following the axes in the picture, they predominantly point either towards Mickey Dugan, to the blue-dressed man or to the sword (appendix B), which I discuss in my further analysis. By finding the parallel structure of the cartoon it is clear that Outcault left nothing to chance in his picture.

The left third is not as crowded as the rest of the image. Several women group in front of a door and a window. The sign on the wall says “Prof. Dugan – Hittinist”. A girl is standing in the lower half of the picture covering her face with her hands. Her gown, as well as the one of Mickey is yellow and covered by text. While Mickey’s dress is covered by fingerprints and carries the word “ARTILLERY” the girl’s gown says “The Girl I Left Behind Me”. In the whitespace between Mickey Dugan and the girl, two babies are fighting each other with their fists. They are accompanied by a small model of a cannon, which the Yellow Kid drags using a thread. While the older boys stand await and prepare for war, the little boy in a yellow gown and a Chinese looking child are too impatient to wait.

The upper half of the image is dominated by a neutral exterior wall and roofs of distant houses in the right upper third. Two oversized cats are fighting there, mirroring the scene on the lower left front. The upper middle shows a broken and shadowy window with another sign attached to it saying “HURRAH For Old ENGLAND”.

3 Analysis

3.1 Monroe Doctrine

According to comic strips which appeared before Outcault’s Yellow Kid Bill Blackbeard argues that

“[t]ext found in the drawing, whether in balloons, on signs, or elsewhere, is secondary to the visual component and could be completely omitted without affecting the graphic point of the art”

and that

“[…] the text is often crucial to comprehending scenes and characters in the panel but is invariably printed or lettered below the sequential drawings and contains virtually all the crucial dialogue”. (71)

In this cartoon, the text is integrated. By using signs and placates, Outcault makes the text become part of the scenery, he establishes textual elements as furnishing. In Hogan’s Alley the signs are part of the war preparations. The utterance “[…] AMERICA FOR AMERICANS OR ANY BODY ELSE” at first only delivers the message: We (America) are fighting for all American inhabitants and for all those who need help, though they might not be Americans. On the one hand, this aspect is valiant; on the other hand, it is arbitrary. Outcault might have intended to portray the kids of Hogan’s Alley as heroic, which will become clear in my further argumentation.

The sign “WE DON’T KNOW VENEZUELA BUT WE ARE WIT HIM TRO TICK & TROO THIN ALL RIGHT” tells the viewer, who Hogan’s Alley is lining up for. For answering the question if this placard carries a positive or negative connotation according to war, I have to explain the historical happenings a little further. Beginning in 1841 with Great Britain mapping the western limits of British Guiana and including Venezuela’s Point Barima, relations tensed more and more between England and the former colony. Venezuela’s interest “[…] to bring in the United States into the argument […]” (Williams 306) were of avail in the late 1880’s when Great Britain officially announced Point Barima British territory and “Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with England” (Williams 306). The new Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard became interested and sent the first American protest to Great Britain, which was not helpful to Venezuela since the American Minister in London did not deliver it. By taking the step to map their new territory and including parts of Venezuela’s territory in it, England transgressed the Monroe Doctrine, a document

“informing the powers of the Old World that the American continents were no longer open to European colonization, and that any effort to extend European political influence into the New World, would be considered by the United States ‘as dangerous to our peace and safety.’.” (The Monroe Doctrine (1823))

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