"I did not raise my girl to be a voter"
A Puck cartoon parodies the anti-war song 'I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier'. A woman labelled 'Anti' sings solo while a 'Political Boss' conducts and a chorus of men labelled procurer, dive keeper, child labor employer, grafter, cadet and sweat shop owner backs her. The cartoon argues by association: it places the anti-suffrage position among labelled figures of vice so their stigma attaches to it, without evidence about any named person.
- Date
- October 9, 1915
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- Puck (pro-suffrage cartoon)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Gender and suffrage, Elections and party politics
- Event
- US Woman Suffrage Campaign
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1915 in Puck; LoC: No known restrictions on publication)
Puck, 9 October 1915, p. 6. Library of Congress, LC-USZC2-1196, via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
PROCURER DIVE KEEPER CHILD LABOR EMPL[OYER] GRAFTER CADET SWEAT SHOP OWNER ANTI POLITICAL BOSS "I DID NOT RAISE MY GIRL TO BE A VOTER" SOPRANO SOLO WITH VOCIFEROUS SUPPORTING CHORUS OF MALE VOICES
The six chorus-figure labels read left to right as printed on their chests/collars: PROCURER, DIVE KEEPER, CHILD LABOR EMPL[OYER] (partly abbreviated/cut off), GRAFTER, CADET, SWEAT SHOP OWNER. 'ANTI' is spelled out in large letters down the singing woman's dress; 'POLITICAL BOSS' labels the conductor's collar in the foreground.
