The Village Blacksmith (1897)

William Henry Walker prints bring the sharp wit of the original Life magazine into your home. From 1894 to 1922 Walker drew about a thousand political and social cartoons for Life, taking on Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, big business and the trusts, war, immigration, Prohibition and women's rights. Our collection of fine art prints includes more than a thousand of his pen-and-ink drawings.

About William Henry Walker

William Henry Walker was born on 13 February 1871 in Pittston, Pennsylvania, the son of the Reverend Ira T. Walker. He studied at Kentucky University and then the University of Rochester, where he took his degree in 1891.

Walker began drawing cartoons for Life, the humour magazine founded in 1883 by John Ames Mitchell, in 1894 and joined its staff in 1898. Over almost thirty years he drew about a thousand cartoons for it, covering the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the war in the Philippines, voting rights, the First World War, women's rights, child labour and colonialism. He married Adelaide Miller in 1900.

Walker died on 18 January 1938. About a thousand of his original pen-and-ink drawings for Life, dated 1894 to 1922, are kept as the William H. Walker Cartoon Collection at Princeton University Library, with more in Princeton's Graphic Arts Collection.

Style and Subjects

Walker drew in pen and ink with a clean, confident line, filling his cartoons with symbolic figures: Uncle Sam, Columbia, the Statue of Liberty, donkeys and elephants, and trusts as fat, top-hatted men. He often borrowed from fables and fairy tales, as in The Hare and the Tortoise or Little Red Riding Hood, to make a political point.

His humour ranges from gentle social comedy, such as suburban life and fancy restaurants, to biting comment on war, greed and corruption. Many cartoons carry a caption or speech that sets up the joke.

Famous Works

• Uncle Sam, Buyer of Small Islands (1902), Princeton University Library. Uncle Sam shopping for an empire.
• Theodore Roosevelt riding a bull moose that pulls a carriage (1912). Roosevelt and his Bull Moose party.
• Made in Germany (1915), Princeton University Library. A First World War cartoon on German aggression.
• I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier (1915). A cartoon on the debate over American neutrality.
• Little Red Riding Hood (1917), Princeton University Library. A fairy tale turned to wartime politics.
• Candidate for the Melting Pot (1919), Princeton University Library. A comment on immigration after the war.
• The Hare and the Tortoise (1919), Princeton University Library. A fable recast as a political cartoon.

Decorating with Walker Prints

Walker's black-and-white cartoons suit a study, home office, library or den, especially for history lovers. Hang a row of them in thin black frames with white mats for a crisp, graphic look.

Group them by theme, such as Roosevelt, Uncle Sam or the First World War, above a desk or bookcase. Their monochrome line works with any wall colour, from white to deep navy.

FAQ

Who was William Henry Walker?

William Henry Walker (1871–1938) was an American cartoonist who drew political and social cartoons for the original Life magazine from 1894 to 1922.

Is this the same Life magazine as the photo magazine?

Walker drew for the original Life, a humour magazine founded in 1883 by John Ames Mitchell. Time Inc. took over the title in 1936.

What subjects did he cover?

War, immigration, American politics, the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the Philippines, voting rights, women's rights, child labour and colonialism.

Where are his original drawings?

About a thousand of his pen-and-ink cartoons are held at Princeton University Library in the William H. Walker Cartoon Collection.

Related Artists

• John Ames Mitchell: founder of Life magazine
• Charles Dana Gibson: Life's most famous illustrator of the same years
• Udo Keppler: political cartoonist for Puck in the same era
• Thomas Nast: the great American political cartoonist of the previous generation