Camp of 36th Pennsylvania Infantry during American Civil War

Cartoon shows Uncle Sam as a well-dressed stalwart figure wearing striped pants and a waistcoat covered with stars, carrying a tall hat. Behind him stands another Uncle Sam, but this one is emaciated, shabby, and dejected. "Lest we forget" is the refrain in Rudyard Kipling's poem, Recessional, published in 1897 at the height of the British empire. In the poem, Kipling warns against the perils of pride and the impermanence of power. The United States emerged from the Spanish American war in 1899 as a quasi-imperial power. The cartoonist may be cautioning the nation to remember its humble beginnings.

Inscribed in pencil in lower right corner: New York Journal 1893. Since Davenport did not move to New York to work for the New York Journal until 1895, this notation is probably incorrect.
Forms part of: Art Wood Collection of Caricature and Cartoon (Library of Congress).
Unprocessed in WOOD.Davenport.13
Sources: World encyclopedia of cartoons, p. 187 ljr