John Q. Public

“Yes, that’s me in the cartoon playing the little American. It has always been me. I am John Q. Public. I have been the guy in the barrel for years. I am always the guy being kicked around. I use myself because the editor told me many years ago that he loved that character. He said ‘Jerry, use yourself as the consumer, or the taxpayer, use that little guy.’ That’s why I’m a radical.” — Jerry Doyle

John Q. Public, representative of the common taxpaying man, has a long tradition in American editorial cartooning. Vaughn Shoemaker, cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News introduced the figure in 1922. Later, illustrator Jim Lang, of The Oklahoman, repurposed the cartoon character as “Mr. Voter,” over his long career. It was Jerry Doyle, though, who adopted John Q. Public as his own persona during his years as the daily editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Record and later, the Philadelphia Daily News. Doyle drew his John Q. Public as a self-caricature. His iconic threadbare John Q. Public, often stripped naked but for a shoddy barrel, represented the average American, victimized by excessive taxation and mounting debt, lobbyists and corrupt politicians, transit and municipal labor strikes, and a failing educational system. While John Q. Public was a useful generic character to reflect the frustrations of some white, working class men and others who shared similar concerns, his perspective and experiences were naturally limited. In an effort to include a wider variety of experiences, issues, and perspectives, we have created a Beyond “John Q. Public” page to highlight women and Black editorial cartoonists in the 20th- century with links to resources.