Episode 10: C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips: “The Public Be Damned!”, Part 1
The past two weekends, we saw comics about The Disaster in the Fourth Avenue Tunnel, wherein William Vanderbilt is confronted with the collision of two passenger trains on his railroad lines, with resultant death and injuries. His reluctance to spend money on safety measures — as doing so would cut into profits — were blamed as the cause (an eternal theme for corporations, as most recently demonstrated by the current Oil Crisis in the Gulf).
Three days after Kemble’s strip was published, on October 8, 1882, Vanderbilt spoke the words for which he will always be remembered — “The Public be Damned!” This utterance had nothing to do with the train disaster (read this American Heritage article by John Steele Gordon, for competing origins reported for the phrase). But the timing of it, so soon after the train collision, couldn’t have been worse — a fact overlooked in the historical articles I’ve found so far concerning the incident, but, definitely not overlooked by cartoonists of the day, who inter-weaved train accident scenes, with a relaxed William H. Vanderbilt, uttering, “The Public Be Damned!”
A good example of this, is today’s Episode Ten of artist Charles Jay Taylor’s series of strips featuring Vanderbilt. Titled simply “The Public Be -!”(in accordance to the 19th century sensibilty to blank out, rather than outright print, words such as “damned”), Taylor’s cartoon appeared on the front page of the October 12, 2025 issue of the (New York) Daily Graphic.
Click on either picture below, to enlarge it.
As the art in this particular issue was wider on the page than usual (and, too wide for even my over-sized scanner, which cut off the text on both sides of the page), I rescanned the top portion alone, so SuperI.T.C.H visitors may read the cartoon in its entirety. The Vanderbilt quotations which appear in each panel, come from freelance reporter’s Clarence Dresser’s printed version of Vanderbilt’s words surrounding his “Public Be Damned” comment. (Again, see the American Heritage article for that version, plus alternate possibilities.)
Click on C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William H. Vanderbilt Comic Strips, to find the previously posted episodes. Next week, more “The Public Be Damned” William Vanderbilt cartoons.
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— Doug
An absolutely fascinating series. The term “historian” and the discipline of “history” are contested, although I don’t know how hotly. But the argument includes the proper use of source material. I wonder how many historians overlook political cartoons simply because of the lack of well-established conventions for their use as source material? It seems to me that Taylor would be an important primary source. I love the way Vanderbilt’s clothes are one or two sizes too small in the first cartoon. Is that his belt hanging out of his waistcoat?
[...] at William Vanderbilt, for his “The public be damned” comment. (To see the first poke, click here.) Taylor shows Vanderbilt standing atop a pyramid of human beings, whose efforts support him. His [...]
[...] into which he’s stuffed “XMas: The Public B-” (in reference to his infamous “The Public Be Damned!” comment of two months earlier), adding, “I think the public got all they want this [...]