Life, 1928-10-05 · page 19 of 48
Life — October 5, 1928 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This article reviews Alfred E. Smith's 1928 presidential campaign tour. Smith, a New York politician, wore a distinctive brown derby hat that became his signature. The text criticizes Smith's campaign performance as uninspired and mediocre—he seemed less capable than his actual abilities suggested, delivering jokes poorly and appearing out of his depth outside New York politics. The cartoons mock the brown derby itself: one shows it dominating Smith's head during a "talkie" (early sound film), and another depicts a boxing match where the derby is the prominent focus. The satire suggests Smith's hat became more memorable than his political substance, reducing a serious candidate to a caricature defined by a single accessory rather than substantive leadership qualities.
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THE POLITICAL FRONT The Brown Derby I nave just returned from a cam- Henry —paign tour of the United States sBydam 2 the company of Alfred E. ) Smith, fortune’s darling. I have sot seen Mr. Smith's expense account for this expedition, but it must approach the gross resources of the Federal Reserve Bank or the first five years of the Dawes olan. Not since Catherine toured Russia under the opulent management of Prince Potemkin has such expert advance prep- zation been exhibited. Not since War- ren G. Harding's funeral train sped ma- jstically from San Francisco to Wash- ington has so much been written about asingle moving object. Not since Queen Maric of Rumania hurled her leopard jacket and jewels in the face of an astounded populace has so good a show teen staged as Mr. Smith and his $20 brown derby. The entire trip was high, wide and handsome. No dime was left unturned to make it an imperial progress. The nicest part of it all was that Mr. Smith's audiences joined in the spirit of the affair with right good will. To those of us who traveled with Mr. Smith it seemed as if these audi- ences, these crowds that turned out in handsome numbers, were primarily curi- ous. To the Middle West Mr. Smith is a new thing. He represents a genus of pub- lic man totally unknown to that section of the country. His gaiety, his informality, his natural wit are all outside the Middle West's tradition of politics. Warren G. Harding, with his magnificent front, his solemn urbanity, his tender condescension, was the Middle West's perfect _pic- ture of a candidate for President. Alfred E. Smith is not. The interest he evoked was intense. The ulace wanted to Ht him. What he said, what he stood for, was of less im- portance than what he did. The Governor remained himself and even less than himself — his costume seemed to indicate a sense of his new dignities, for he wore a short black jacket of cheviot, bound with silk braid, on a foundation of striped trousers. Up to his neck Mr. Smith might have been a For- eign Minister or an Ambassador. Then he jammed his brown derby on the back of his head, tilted it to one side, and it Tue Lion Wuo Growten at tHe Wronc Time Durine THe Takin or A “TALKIE” was “Al” Smith after all. The brown derby never left his hand. All at once, from the center of a crowd, I would see that brown derby raised high. Cheers, whistles and shouts rose up to greet it. Mr. Smith is a superb showman, but whether this inevitable brown hat did Mr. Smith good or harm is another ques- tion. I am personally of the opinion that he sacrificed good taste to sentiment in using this headgear in the Middle West as he had so often used it in New York. The impressions of any particular critic can easily prove wrong, bat I had the notion, during this first campaign tour of Mr. Smith's, that he was performing on a level considerably below that of his own true capacities and character, Except when he was actually delivering his ad- dresses, he seemed to take the job of run- ning for President with a surprising de- gree of insouciance. He was too facile with his jokes, bright comments and “wise-cracks.” That awful brown hat, jammed down over his cars, suggests saw- dust and pink lemonade. The picture he gave the country on this, his first cam- paign tour, was not that of the essentially dignified Governor of New York, the thoughtful executive, the conscientious administrator, the expert in government. Tt was that of a politician having a grand time; which is something less than the Boxer: I hoid ya call me a quitter, an’ I'm gonna sock ya inne jaw in about two seconds, | true Smith. comicbooks.com