A Packing Problem

This illustration entitled, "A Packing Problem", by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, appeared in the Washington Evening Star on December 31, 1913. It depicts Father Time wondering how to pack all of the major events of 1913 into a case that appears too small.

The major events of 1913 included the ratification of both the 16th Amendment (giving Congress the power to tax income) and the 17th Amendment (providing for the direct election of Senators) and the Democrats retaking the White House with inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. Other events included the introduction of parcel post, which became available to Americans that year; the first successful ascent of Mount McKinley (now known as Denali); the continued Mexican Revolution; the Great Flood in the Ohio Valley; the SS Volturno disaster in the North Atlantic; and the first meaningful tariff revision in decades, among others.