Content note: Ethnic caricatures of immigrants in a 1907 cartoon about Japanese exclusion. This object is shown as it was published. Why
"As to Japanese Exclusion" (Puck cover, 13 March 1907)
Cover that argues against excluding Japanese immigrants by drawing a crowd of ragged, bearded men in kimonos and geta being waved off at a dock, captioned "Perhaps, if they came in kimonos, the real undesirables might also be kept out." The label "real undesirables" is pinned on a caricatured group of European-looking immigrants.
- Date
- March 13, 1907
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Puck magazine (Keppler & Schwarzmann); drawn by Frank A. Nankivell
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Leader
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Migration, Race and ethnicity
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published in the U.S. in 1907; LOC: no known restrictions on publication)
Frank A. Nankivell, "As to Japanese exclusion", Puck v. 61 no. 1567, 13 March 1907, cover (Keppler & Schwarzmann); LC-DIG-ppmsca-26148
Text on the object
VOL. LXI. No. 1567. PUCK BUILDING, New York, March 13th, 1907. PRICE TEN CENTS. "What Fools these Mortals be!" Puck Copyright, 1907, by Keppler & Schwarzmann. Entered at N. Y. P. O. as Second-class Mail Matter. [signature, lower right of picture] FRANK A. NANKIVELL AS TO JAPANESE EXCLUSION. Perhaps, If They Came in Kimonos, the real Undesirables Might also Be Kept Out. [Library of Congress copyright stamp, upper right: "Two Copies Received MAR 12 1907 ..."]
Read from the 1024 px Library of Congress service image. The Library of Congress stamp at upper right is an accession mark, not part of the cover, and is only partly transcribed.
