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"'Blowing' Himself Around the Country."

In September 1896, this Puck cartoon derided William Jennings Bryan’s candidacy, showing him pumping out political promises from a bellows marked “16 to 1” (the ratio of silver coinage to gold proposed by “soft money” reformers to ease the farm families’ economic plight). But the cartoon’s major target appears to be rank-and-file Populists, portrayed as gullible, whiskered, and ignorant.

Source: J. S. Pughe, Puck, September 16, 1896—Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Who Built America? An Open Educational Resource has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and funding from The Ford Foundation, Digital Scholar, and the City University of New York Central Office of Library Services. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Open Educational Resource, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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