Puck dustjacket_Layout 1 7/16/14 2:40 PM Page 1 THE STORY OF “it is hard to overestimate the political influence of puCk…during the last two decades of the 19th Century. it was greater than all newspapers combined.” PUCK MAGAZINE “in these early days of cartooning, the weekly humor —stephen hess, e Ungentlemanly Art magazine gave cartoons real prominence, and cartoonists immediately began pushing every limit of the art form.” With nearly 300 color plates What fools these Mortals Be: the story of puCk —from the foreword by Bill Watterson is the first full-color monograph devoted to the most important political satire and cartoon magazine in american history. e weekly journal’s de caricatures and pointed commentary made it a political force to be reckoned with. it is credited with single-handedly thwarting the third-term ambitions of ulysses s. Grant in 1880 and electing Grover Cleveland to MICHAEL ALEXANDER KAHN the presidency in 1884—or at least, by its devastating “tattooed Man” series, denying it to James G. Blaine. and puCk did it with art—lavish color full-page and two-page centerspread AND RICHARD SAMUEL WEST cartoons. Many of the issues that dominated puCk’s pages more than one hundred years ago continue to influence the political debate today. “[puCk] created a genre and established a tradition.” — david sloane, American Humor Magazine and Comic Periodicals Michael Alexander Kahn is the co-author of May it aMuse the Court: editorial Cartoons of the supreMe Court and the Constitution and more than a dozen scholarly articles on the presidency and the supreme Court. he has assembled one of the country’s leading collections of political cartoons, which has been featured in numerous magazine articles and in an exhibit at the Grolier Club in new york in 2007. he is a frequent lecturer on the significance of political cartoon art and has developed educational materials based on the art for published from 1877 to 1918, puCk was an teaching on the university and high school levels and in american original—the country’s first and most museum programs. successful humor magazine, the first magazine to publish color lithographs on a weekly basis, and for Richard Samuel West is the author of several books on nearly forty years, a training ground and showcase american political cartooning, the most recent being iConoClast in ink: the politiCal Cartoons of J. n. for some of the country’s most talented cartoonists, "dinG" darlinG (2012), and the editor of four collections led by its co-founder, Joseph keppler. of political cartoons. he was the founder and editor of tarGet: the politiCal Cartoon Quarterly (1981- AMERICA’S FIRST AND MOST during its illustrious career puCk published more 1987), and the political cartoon editor of inks, the THE STORY OF than two thousand numbered issues. When, aer MaGazine of CartooninG, published by ohio state INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE OF university (1994-1997). he is the owner of periodyssey, four decades, it ceased publication, e Literary located in easthampton, Massachusetts, which buys and COLOR POLITICAL CARTOONS Digest printed an appropriate epitaph: “Puck had sells significant and unusual american periodicals. no real rival in its best days. fallen from its fine PUCK FOREWORD BY BILL WATTERSON estate, it has le no successor.” Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 1 What Fools These Mortals Be! Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/14/14 9:42 AM Page 2 Also by Michael Alexander Kahn May It Amuse the Court: Editorial Cartoons of the Supreme Court and Constitution (with H. L. Pohlman) Also by Richard Samuel West Satire on Stone: e Political Cartoons of Joseph Keppler e San Francisco Wasp: An Illustrated History William Newman: A Victorian Cartoonist in London and New York (with Jane E. Brown) Iconoclast in Ink: e Political Cartoons of Jay N. “Ding” Darling Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 3 THE STORY OF PUCK AMERICA’S FIRST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE OF COLOR POLITICAL CARTOONS What Fools These MortalsMICHAEL ALEXANDER KAHN AND RICHARD SAMUEL WEST Be! Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 4 A NOTE ON SOURCE MATERIAL The images reproduced in this book have been scanned from printed editions of Puck. They are primarily from the private collections of the authors, supplemented by images in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs collection. Scans were made of individual issues and loose pages whenever possible; in some instances the only available source was a bound volume and for these images some “bind-in” may have occurred. BOOK DESIGN BY Lorraine Turner and Dean Mullaney THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS Dean Mullaney/Creative Director and Editor Bruce Canwell/Associate Editor Lorraine Turner/Art Director Beau Smith/Marketing Director ISBN: 978-1-63140-046-9 First Printing, October 2014 Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors 1-410-560-7100 Published by: IDW Publishing a Division of Idea and Design Works, LLC 5080 Santa Fe Street San Diego, CA 92109 www.idwpublishing.com Ted Adams, Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer/President Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services Text © 2014 Michael Alexander Kahn and Richard Samuel West. Introduction © 2014 Bill Watterson. All rights reserved. Artwork restoration © 2014 Library of American Comics LLC. The Library of American Comics is a trademark of The Library of American Comics LLC. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Korea. This page: Standard illustration supplied by Keppler and Schwarzmann to serve as a frontispiece for issues of Puck gathered into bound volumes. Dustjacket front: Elements from “Puck’s Review of the Past Year” (centerspread by Joseph Keppler, December 31, 1884). Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 5 In memory of Eleanor Ruth Pick Kahn (1924-2006). M.A.K. In memory of Katherine Orton West (1921-2006) and for Al, Dave, Mur, and Anne, with love. R.S.W. Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 6 Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/14/14 9:43 AM Page 7 oreword Today, as the mass media atomizes, newspapers struggle, and political cartoonists lose their jobs, it’s strange to look at 19th Century publications like Puck, where a political cartoon could take up the entire cover or a two-page centerspread inside. e artistic possibilities and visual impact of that kind of space are revelations. Even in its own day, the lithograph drawings of Joseph Keppler were a world away from the crosshatched wood engravings of omas Nast’s cartoons of just a few years earlier. e new lithography technology permitted sensuous lines, an immense range of halones, and—what must have been absolutely eye-popping in those days— full color. e cartoonists of Puck were clearly excited by the opportunities and their cartoons are lavishly drawn. Some are bold and graphic, some are exaggerated and cartoony, and others are richly illustrative. e commentary is equally varied, ranging from silly, to satiric, to outraged. In these early days of cartooning, the weekly humor magazine gave cartoons real prominence, and cartoonists immediately began pushing every limit of the art form. Decades later, comic strip cartoonists did the same thing in the daily newspapers. Cartoons are partly shaped by their publishing environment, and the artistry of cartoons expands in those rare times when it’s given some encouragement and open territory. e Internet seems to reduce everything to niche markets of dubious profitability, and it remains to be seen if political cartoons will ever thrive again, but we are again at the threshold of a new publishing technology, and cartoonists can now draw any kind of cartoon, in any kind of medium, in any style. e open territory for artistic expansion is here again. Perhaps the Puck cartoons reprinted in this beautiful book will remind us of the power, scope, and artistic possibilities we’ve long neglected. Bill Watterson 2014 7 Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 8 Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 9 Foreword The History of Puck Magazine The Puck Building Presidential Politics Politics and Government : Business and Labor Foreign Relations Race and Religion Social Issues Personalities Just for Fun Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/7/14 6:23 PM Page 10 Puck text_328_Layout 1 7/14/14 10:28 AM Page 11 CHAPTER ONE istory of Puck Magazine Puck was America’s first successful humor magazine. It was inconsequential American humor magazines published in the the most influential American humor magazine ever published. It same format. was the first American magazine to publish color lithographs on a Puck’s founders, cartoonist Joseph Keppler and printer weekly basis. And, for nearly forty years, it was a training ground Adolph Schwarzmann, had high hopes for their ambitious effort. and showcase for some of the country’s most talented cartoonists. Keppler, born in Vienna in 1838, had studied art as an adolescent As David Sloane has said in American Humor Magazine and Comic but turned to acting as a young adult. He developed a name for Periodicals, Puck “created a genre and established a tradition,” himself in provincial Austria's theatrical world.