Last Monday, in Part 1, we introduced the As We See ‘Em books, explaining how those appearing in the books, paid to appear in them, caricatured by cartoonists from their city’s local newspaper(s). It was considered good advertising — not only of your business, but of your social status in the community.

Below, left-to-right: An eye doctor Bill Murray would love (hint, Little Shop of Horrors reference there), William Noble, from Illinoisans As We See ‘Em, 1904; F.K. Rule, gun-totin’ Treasurer of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad Company (by artist Dodge!), from Southern Californians As We See ‘Em; and, from the same book, Assistant City Treasurer (Los Angeles) Boyle Workman — always good to see a City Treasurer, with cash sticking out of all his pockets!

Click on any picture, to see an enlarged version.

Such collections, each centered on a single city or region, were published across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The As We See ‘Em-style books (other titled collections soon borrowed the concept) began appearing in 1904, continuing into the 1920s, and even into the 1930s.

From left-to-right below, we have: The original ambulance-chaser, J.J. Barnsdall, from the 1911 NYC-based Them As Is Because; a surgeon with flair, F.H. Martin, from the 1904 Illinoisans As We Wee ‘Em; and E.H. Hammer, also from Them As Is, whose motto is, “If it’s made of Asbestos we’ve got it!”

While the vast majority of individuals in these books are not, a few quite famous people appeared in them. Below, Andrew Carnegie: left, from All Sorts of Pittsburgers, 1892; and right, from Greater Pittsburgers As We See Them, 1906. (And yes, that’s how both books spelled “Pittsburgers”.)

The 1892 All Sorts of Pittsburgers, was a kind of prototype for the As We See ‘Em books. It was not a subscription-oriented project, but, rather, a collection of the caricatures and accompanying essays which had run in the local newspaper — i.e., the kind of thing that As We See ‘Em evolved from. Still earlier books (non-subscription, collecting caricatures of individuals, but not yet the newspaper cartoonist angle) include John Kay’s late 1700s/early 1800s Heads of the People, and, the 1872 Pen and Ink Sketches of Notables, by Squills. The step to a subscription project was perhaps crossed by the 1899 book, Faces You Have Saw - Caricatures of Famous People Seen About Detroit. (I say perhaps, because I can’t find my copy right now, to verify that.)

Other historically famous subscribers, included Thomas Edison and William Guggenheim, both below, from the circa 1905 Men of Affairs - The (New York) Evening Mail. Artwork by J.C. Fireman.

More famous subscribers. Below, all from the 1911 NYC-based Them As Is Because: August Belmont, Irving Berlin, and Flo Ziegfeld (the last of whose surviving Ziegfeld Follies dancers died this past week, at 104 years old).

Some of these books (a minority) had opening pages depicting the cartoonists and staff who produced the book. Below, the staff from the 1906 Greater Pittsburgers As We See Them, showing the cartoonists who participated, from four different Pittsburgh newspapers (the Pittsburgh Post, Press, Dispatch, and Leader).

Here, we have self-portraits of the cartoonists of Torontonians As We See ‘Em. Top-to-bottom, left-to-right: Editor W.E. MacArton; cartoonists: Newton McConnell, Jack Radford, J.W. Beatty, Victor C. Wright, and Jack Innes.

Just as a few of the individuals caricatured in these books were famous, so, too, did a few of the cartoonists who worked on As We See ‘Em-style projects, later rise to fame. Below, photos of the artists from the 1904 St. Louisans As We See ‘Em. A rather solemn looking lot, for cartoonists, apart from the one who would become the largest success — George McManus, top left, creator of Bringing Up Father.

Below, a few examples of McManus’ contributions, to St. Louisans As We See ‘Em.

With apparently too many cartoonists to give them a photo page, the 1904 Chicagoans As We See ‘Em contains a page showing the signatures of the artists. The one who would make the biggest name — Clare Briggs — is top left (apparently, the position to be for future success). Bradford and Carr were also significant names, in editorial cartooning.

Below, a few examples of Clare Briggs’ As We See ‘Em work: left, from the Chicagoans As We See ‘Em; and center and right, from the wider Illinoisans As We See ‘Em.

Finally, I felt the best way to close out, would be with the depiction, and plea for forgiveness, from the author responsible for the Them As Is poems…

Despite the fact that this is a ridiculously large post, it is just a fraction of what I scanned. Two more groupings — one of Theatrical/Vaudeville people, and, another, containing the women from the 1911 Them As Is Because book — will appear, in future months.

Doug Wheeler

AsWeSeeEm