In April of 1909, during a special session, the United States Congress passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, raising tariffs on imports to the United States. One of these tariffs was 20 cents a thousand on shingles imported to the United States, which shingle makers and lumbermen in the Seattle region thought "kept them from bankruptcy."
On October 30, 1909, businessmen from the lumber and shingle industries in Western Washington hosted a dinner at the Arctic Club in Seattle celebrating the passing of the tariff. This cartoon, drawn by Ernest C. Jenner, and reprinted from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, includes drawings of those present at the dinner with descriptions, a menu, and the lyrics to a song.
Ernest Comstock Jenner (1875-1946) was a Seattle newspaper artist and engraver. Jenner was part of the Seattle Cartoonists' Club, which produced illustrations and caricatures of Seattle's rich, famous and powerful men. Jenner worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from around 1893 to 1920.
Individuals listed: Victor H. Beckman, Robert S. Wilson, Major E. G. Griggs, J. D. Butler, C. C. Bronson, F. D. Becker (donor's grandfather), C. F. White, E. G. Ames, C. J. Flack, Colonel George H. Emerson, J. H. Bloedel, D. A. Ford, John McMaster, and Colonel H. S. Stine.
Caption source information: "Shinglemen to Dine Lawmakers," Seattle Daily Times, October 30, 1909, p. 4.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
