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"A Polyglot Failure"
Small Mickey: "Say, Alexovitch, shall I blackeroff your bootsorouski?"
American (mistaken for Grand Duke). "Oh, get out!"
This unsigned Harper’s Weekly cartoon shows an American man,
dressed in a Russian-style fur cap and coat, mistaken for the visiting
Grand Duke Alexis by an impertinent bootblack.
Alexis Romanov was the fourth son of Alexander II, the tsar of Russia
(1855-1881). The Grand Duke’s previous visit to the United States in
the winter of 1871-1872 was a social event and journalistic story of the
first rank. In mid-October 1871, Harper’s Weekly ran a front
page article, with portrait, anticipating the arrival of the handsome,
22-year-old Russian prince. The Grand Duke’s formal reception at New
York’s harbor on November 21 included a United States naval squadron,
fleets from local yacht clubs, and dignitaries from New York politics,
business, and society. Thousands of New Yorkers filled the sidelines of
the parade route to welcome the Grand Duke enthusiastically to their
city. For several weeks, Harper’s Weekly carried more
front-page articles, news stories, an editorial, illustrations, and
several cartoons concerning his visit.
After traveling to Washington to meet President Ulysses S. Grant,
Grand Duke Alexis returned to New York City, where he and his entourage
stayed in a private wing of the Clarendon Hotel. The Grand Duke
inspected the fortifications in New York’s harbor, reviewed the cadets
at West Point and the Metropolitan Fire Department in Manhattan, and
attended gala dinner-dances in his honor at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and
the Academy of Music. At the latter event, large banners were hung from
the ceiling to celebrate the American and Russian alliance. One depicted
President Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, with a
family of liberated slaves at his feet; it was complemented by a picture
of Tsar Alexander II, the Grand Duke’s father, abolishing serfdom in
Russia.
After leaving New York City, Grand Duke Alexis traveled to San
Francisco, stopping at major cities along the way, addressing a joint
session of the Missouri legislature, and hunting buffalo with General
Philip Sheridan at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Returning east, the Russian
prince fulfilled his wish to visit a public school in Boston. Throughout
his journey, he was surprised and impressed by the number of American
politicians who began life in the working class.
The Grand Duke’s second visit to the United States, in early 1877,
occurred with far less fanfare. At their behest, Alexis and
his cousin, Grand Duke Constantine, were treated as private citizens, rather than as
formal representatives of Russia.
In this cartoon, the bootblack is one of the thousands of poor and
often homeless children who live in New York City in the late 1870s and
survive by practicing a street trade. Notice the oversized coat and
shoes which the boy wears, as well as his haggard face. His nickname
"Mickey" indicates that he is Irish-American.
Robert C. Kennedy
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