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By late Nineteenth Century America was evolving from an agrarian society to an urban
one, from an Anglo-Saxon heritage to a diverse “Melting Pot,” from politics
by the elite to a populist approach to governing. Life was unsettled. A whole new
genre of weekly satire magazines came to life, their task to “tell it like
it is,” to deflate the stuffed-shirted leaders of the day, and to offer an
avenue for writers, essayists, and poets of the day.
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In addition to typeset words, these humorous magazines developed a trademarked image
new to American readers – the handsome chromolithographic cartoon. In 1877
Joseph Keppler changed American publishing by creating “Puck,” a weekly
“tabloid” (in today’s terms) magazine that featured full color cartoons
on the first, last, and center spread pages. At first, he did the artwork himself,
but eventually hired others to draw even more cartoons. What differentiates Keppler’s
work from cartoonists like Thomas Nast was that Keppler devoted many of his “Puck”
cartoons to satiric dissections of American life instead of focusing only on political
headlines of American politics.
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The full color cartoons by Keppler and others were identifiable by a host of skillfully-drawn
caricatures of important contemporaries – in an era before artists had readily
available photographs to work from. The human likenesses mingled with a cartoonist’s
stable of symbols identify these magazine cartoons as the hallmark of a turbulent,
changing era.
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“Puck” color cartoons even today remain not only a refreshing “snapshot”
of a colorful period in American history, but an artistic accomplishment as well.
These cartoons were produced as stone lithographs which makes each of them a work
of art, appearing in just one issue, and produced in a very limited quantity –
and very collectible. Despite the number of copies produced for circulation, copies
were intended for use at that moment in time. Now, a century later few examples
remain, and even fewer in fine condition. The Art-cade’s collection of cartoons
from humorous weeklies includes both the single and double-spread color artwork
from “Puck,” “Judge,” and other magazines.
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