Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Press Gag Law, Robert Satterfield

Nelan Political Cartoons

Depicts a large cartoonist labelled "Nelan" dipping a small figure labelled "Penny" in spilled ink with the imprint "Press Gag Law." Behind a small dog says, "How careless of Penny." In 1903, Samuel Pennypacker, Governor of Pennsylvania, signed the Salus-Grady libel law, also known as the "Pennsylvania Anti-Cartoon law," showing his anger with cartoonist Charles Nelan who regularly depicted him as a bird parroting his cousin's rhetoric. There was wide outrage over the Salus-Grady law and it was never enforced and was rescinded in 1907 after Pennypacker's defeat.