W.H. Vanderbilt as Santa Claus: Episode 11, C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips
What better way to celebrate Christmas, than with one of the Nineteenth Century’s real Scrooges — monopolist & stock market manipulator William H. Vanderbilt — performing a hostile corporate takeover of the North Pole, and displacing that red-suited socialist Santa Claus with a Kringle who understands how the “free”-market is better when controlled, manipulated, and [...]
Episode 10.5: C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips: “The Public Be Damned!”, Part 2
From the October 18th, 1882 issue of the (New York) Daily Graphic, artist Charles Jay Taylor takes a second poke 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 trains are approaching from all directions, entering [...]
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 [...]
Episode 9.5: William Vanderbilt Comic Strips, E.W. Kemble Slips In, 1882
On September 23rd, 1882 — one day after the New York Daily Graphic published Charles Jay Taylor’s strip A Sporting Connoisseur (presented yesterday), showing William Vanderbilt having a fun time racing his horses — the New York Times published the article A Collision in the Dark — Terrible Accident in a Hudson River Railroad Tunnel, detailing a fatal [...]
C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips, Episode 9
To recap what this series is, for those who may just be finding this website… In the years 1881 and 1882, artist Charles Jay Taylor created a series of approximately one dozen sequential comic strips featuring as the main character, railroad monopolist and stock market manipulator, William H. Vanderbilt. These appeared on the front page [...]
Episode 8.5: C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips
Today’s episode — A Disinterested Friend of the Public, from the front page of the May 2nd, 1882 issue of the (New York) Daily Graphic — I’ve labeled Episode 8.5 (rather than “9″) of Charles Jay Taylor’s series of sequential comic strips starring William H. Vanderbilt, because it’s a single panel cartoon. But being produced by Taylor within [...]
Episode 8: 1881-82 Comic Strips Featuring William Vanderbilt, by C.J. Taylor: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 63
In Bon Voyage — Episode 8 of artist Charles Jay Taylor’s 1881-82 series of sequential comic strips starring railroad baron and stock market manipulator, William H. Vanderbilt, appearing on the front page of the April 22, 2026 issue of the (New York) Daily Graphic - Vanderbilt is shown heading off for a trip to Europe, to [...]
Episode 7: C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 Comic Strips Featuring William Vanderbilt: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 60
In artist Charles Jay Taylor‘s seventh sequential comic strip starring monopolist & railroad baron William H. Vanderbilt, Taylor once again used an actual newspaper interview with Vanderbilt (in this case, with the New York Tribune) as his means of taking shots at Vanderbilt. In Mr. Vanderbilt’s Views, appearing on the front page of the March 25, 2026 [...]
Episode 6: C.J. Taylor’s 1881-82 William Vanderbilt Comic Strips: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 55
The March 17, 2026 front page of New York City’s Daily Graphic newspaper, featured artist Charles Jay Taylor’s sixth sequential comic strip with railroad baron and stock market manipulator William H. Vanderbilt. In this outing, Vanderbilt, shown wearing a sunflower and gone Aesthetic (per the Aesthetic Art Movement of the day) is holding a reception in his home, to show [...]
1881-82 Comic Strips featuring William Vanderbilt, Episode 5: Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons, Part 47
In the years 1881 and 1882, artist Charles Jay Taylor created a series of approximately one dozen sequential comic strips featuring monopolist and stock market manipulator, William H. Vanderbilt. These appeared on the front page of the New York City’s Daily Graphic newspaper, usually with a gap of months between each stand-alone episode. To find the prior episodes, click here. [...]
