The American Fagin
Subject(s): Big business, Fagin (Fictitious character), Fictitious characters, Lawyers, Pickpockets, Public service employment, Uncle Sam (Symbolic character)
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Fagin from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, labeled “Corporation Lawyer,” watches as his protégé, Oliver Twist, labeled “Public Service Corporation,” picks the pocket of Uncle Sam on a city sidewalk. Caption: Instructor in the art of stealing and getting away with it.
Comments and Context
Public Service Commissions sprang up through the United States in 1907, the result of enabling and supportive measures included in reform legislation passed by Congress in 1906; and successful programs in states like Wisconsin.
Basically, Public Service Commissions in states did what federal cabinet bureaus and regulatory agencies did over the interstate domains. They usually combined oversight of the several public utilities in one commission — transit, power, light, rivers, and roads.
In the cartoon by Udo J. Keppler — with yet another Dickens novel as inspiration — Fagin, the viper, watches his ward (as David Copperfield was in the eponymous novel) pick the pocket of Uncle Sam. It is likely that Keppler lettered “Public Service” on the only clean, white portion of the gamin’s ragged clothes, because the cartoonist cynically suggested that Public Service Commissions inevitably would be transformed into new means of plundering the public.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-10-02
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
The American Fagin. [October 2, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285895. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. The American Fagin. [2 Oct. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285895.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1907, October 2]. The American Fagin.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285895.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 26, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
