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Women, interspersed among flowers, are engaged in various activities, such as social work, dancing, attending the theater, and as brides. The accompanying verse begins with the stanza, “O city flowers, what kin are you / To country children of sun and dew? / Hot-house-bred wantons, glad to be sold / To bloom and be sweet for Sin and Gold!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-01-06
In a crowded outdoor scene, possibly in “Times” Square, Japanese paper lanterns are hanging and almost everyone is wearing Japanese-style clothing. Among the porters, street vendors, and street railroad conductors are depicted Jay “Gould,” H. O. “Thompson,” Charles A. “Dana,” Whitelaw “Reid,” Benjamin F. Butler, “Bergh,” Elizabeth Cady “Stanton,” Joseph “Pulitzer,” Samuel J. “Tilden,” Thomas De Witt “Talmage,” William M. “Evarts,” and “Grace, Murray, [and] Barrett,” and Marcus “Daly,” along with Puck holding his lithographic pencil.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-01-13
Puck offers an “Anti Silver Coinage” snow shovel to William M. Evarts during a snowstorm that is depositing silver coins on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the Department of Treasury building, where a group of men labeled “Warner, Vance, Beck, Pugh, Eustis, Jones, Manning, Edmunds, [Mc]Pherson, [and] Bland” are gathering up coins for a snowball fight. Uncle Sam is caught in the storm on the right, whereas on the left and to the west, a “Twenty Dollars” gold piece sets like the sun over a prosperous and expanding nation. Between them are “Closed” snowbound factories. Caption: Puck – “Now, Mr. Evarts, New York expects you to take right hold and help shovel Uncle Sam out of this silver trouble.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-01-20
Otto von Bismarck stands in the middle of a seesaw that is resting on the back of “Turkey” who is being refreshed with “English Salts” by John Bull, a carpet bag at his feet filled with papers labeled “Naval Supremacy, Egyptian Bonds, [and] Indian Trade.” Sitting on the left of the seesaw are “Montenegro, Russia, Roumania [sic], [and] Bulgaria,” and sitting on the right are “Herzegovina,” an unidentified figure holding a rifle and wearing a turban, “Servia [sic], [and] Austria”, who are holding on to another unidentified figure, possibly Greece. Caption: Bismarck keeps the balance, and the Turk pays the freight.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-01-27
President Cleveland stands next to a large “Reform Buzz-Saw” labeled “Pat. 1884 by G. Cleveland” at a sawmill, where three members of his cabinet “Manning, Whitney, [and] Bayard” are milling lumber labeled “For the Improvement of the Custom House” and “Props for the Navy.” A carpenter’s square labeled “Honesty” rests against some boards at Cleveland’s feet. A group of newspaper editors, congressmen, and a dog labeled “Blaine’s Pup” have entered on the left. Among them are “Dana, McLean, Vance, Eustis, Reid, Beck, Evarts, Sherman, Medill, [and] Edmunds.” They are standing just outside the “Secretarys Office” where Daniel S. Lamont is sitting. Through the open door is visible a wagon loaded with large logs labeled “Mormon Question, Silver Question, Tariff Ques, [and] Coast Defences.” Caption: Foreman Cleveland (kindly but firmly) “Boys, don’t monkey with the buzz-saw!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-02-03
An old hag labeled “Tradition” sits in a chair labeled “Justice” and holds a large balance scale labeled “Law” with ten men on the right and one smug man labeled “Stubbornness, Ignorance, [and] Prejudice” sitting in the tray on the left next to a sack labeled “Venality.” The one man outweighs the other ten. Uncle Sam is attempting to kick the man out of the balance. At his feet is a paper that states “‘Remember, you want twelve jurymen and we want only one’ (Monopolist).” Caption: We shall see the day when Uncle Sam will kick the obstructionist out of the jury-box.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1886-02-10
A group of men stand near the “Bourbon Crematory for Disbelievers in the Spoils System.” Some are identified by name, “Blackburn, D. B. Hill, McLaughlin, Thurman, Jones, Hedden, [and] Hendricks,” and some by association with quills behind their ears “Sun” Charles A. Dana, “Cincinnati Enquirer” John R. McLean, “World” Joseph Pulitzer, and “Star.” The newspaper editors are pushing a wrapped figure labeled “This is the Mugwump! And don’t you forget it!” into the crematorium. Hendricks stands on the right, next to an urn labeled “For Mugwump Ashes,” and the others observe from the left. Puck and the figure representing “The Independent Party” are watching from a window in the background. Caption: Uncremated Mugwump (from outside) – “If those old Bourbons take that dummy for me, they’ll be a little startled when they find out that I’m alive – and kicking!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-11-18
President Cleveland stands at the head of a table with his cabinet officers around the table at placemats labeled “Bayard, Manning, Garland, Whitney, Lamar, Endicott, [and] Vilas,” as Puck delivers a large turkey on a platter labeled “With Compliments of all Good Citizens.” A notice on the wall in the background states “Public Office is a Public Trust.” The centerpiece on the table is labeled “Prosperity.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-11-25
Print shows Joseph F. Keppler returning to the “PUCK Office” after a vacation in Europe, laden with a string of “Frankfurt” sausages, “Paris” wine, “Neuchâtel” cheese from “Austria”, an umbrella labeled “London”, and a large tankard labeled “Munich.” Puck rushes to greet him, and other staff crowd the office. On the left is the “Artists Dep[artment]” with “Gillam Hogarth, Opper Raphael, Gräetz Apelles, [and] Zim” emerging to welcome Keppler home. There is a cabinet at center, in the background, with bust models of William H. Vanderbilt, Benjamin F. Butler, George M. Robeson, James G. Blaine, Samuel J. Tilden, Carl Schurz, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, James G. Bennett, and on a statue is a bust of Roscoe Conkling. Next to the “Editorial Department”, on the right, are books labeled “Harvey’s Meditations Among the Tombs, Congressional Record, Paley’s Natural Theology, Poetical Works of G.W. Childs, [and] London Punch”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-10-10
Print shows two old men, one of whom may be Uncle Sam holding a glass, sitting at a table in a saloon, on which is a large bottle of alcohol labeled “Regulated Ohio Brand.” On a shelf behind them are other bottles of alcohol and a notice that states “Ohio Cordials & Refreshments on Hand”, there is also a large container of “Ice”, and on the wall, a sign that states “Regulate Liquor Traffic by License and Tax Laws.” The man sitting opposite of Uncle Sam is reaching for the bottle to refill his glass; he is holding a paper with the headline “Prohibitory Amendment Defeated.” An old temperance woman, wearing the plumed hat of Blaine Republicans and shaking her fist, is visible through an open door. Caption: Not too much – just enough – pass the bottle!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-10-17
Print shows a clash between the Academy of Music and the Metropolitan Opera, with Henry E. Abbey, opera singers, conductors, and orchestras. Some of the identified figures include Marcella Sembrich, Sofia Scalchi, Galassi, Trebelli, Roberto Stagno, Mirabelli, Campanini, and Col. Mapleson.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-10-31
Uncle Sam is ailing with a toothache labeled “Mormonism!” He sits on a chair in the office of “Washington Dental Association” offering “S.S. Cox’s Laughing Gas – Mild & Harmless,” as two arms labeled “Senate” and “House Representatives” reach toward him. One hand holds a pair of pliers labeled “Heroic Measures.” Caption: Uncle Sam – “I suppose I’ve got to have the derned thing out – only, pull it easy!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-11-07
Puck carries a “Petition – To the 48th Congress” at the head of a long procession of well-dressed businessmen who want Congress to enact a “Good Bankruptcy Law” that would identify fraudulent conveyances to a “Preferred Creditor” and hold swindlers accountable. They march down “Relations Row” past buildings that are labeled “Grandfather Preferred, Brother Preferred, 19th Cousin Preferred, Uncle Preferred, Sister Preferred, [and] Brother in Law.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-11-14
Uncle Sam, Columbia, and Puck sit at a table, ready to enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey dinner in a gallery with paintings on the wall in the background. Uncle Sam is gesturing toward these paintings, which depict Irish uprisings and unrest in England, volcanoes in Java, earthquakes in Italy, “Cholera” as the grim reaper in Egypt, French colonialism, anarchy in Spain, German militarism, and Alexander III, Emperor of Russia, standing on the body of a peasant in a painting titled “Russian Reform.” On the far right, at a dock labeled “U.S. Navy,” a ship in disrepair leans to one side. A bulldog gnaws on a bone labeled “New York” beneath a bench on the left. Caption: Uncle Sam – “Well, we seem to be getting along a little better than the rest of the world, and if we can’t be thankful for all that we have, we may at least be thankful that there are some things we haven’t.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-11-28
Print shows James G. Blaine slipping off a cask labeled “Whiskey”; under his arm is tucked a paper that states “Distribution of Surplus – Jim Blaine.” Caption: Our star diplomat par excellence, in his great whiskey-tax balancing feat.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-12-12
A female figure with a shield labeled “Tolerance” and a sword labeled “Knowledge” uses a cord labeled “Equality” to hold back a large snake labeled “Freedom Worship Bill” that has ensnared a young child wearing a hat labeled “S of Refuge.” “Randalls Island” House of Refuge is in the background.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-02-11
Viscount Wolseley attempts to glue the tail labeled “Prestige” onto a weeping British Lion with the aid of British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone who is holding a glue pot labeled “Berber Expedition.” A large, bloody animal trap labeled “Khartoum Trap” and “El Mahdi Patent” is in the foreground.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-02-18
Uncle Sam and a female figure identified as Liberty stroll through a park among trees labeled “Equal Rights, Free Press, Free Schools, Free Speech, Free Ballot, Constitution, [and] Religious Liberty.” Around the bases of the trees are many mushrooms labeled “Total Abstinence Fanatics, Monopoly, Socialist, Nihilist, Dynamiter, Communist, Anarchist, Demagogism, Bribery, [and] Corrupt,” and a vine labeled “Protection” is beginning to strangle a tree labeled “Unrestricted Commerce.” Puck, sitting on a tree branch, tells Uncle Sam that he needs to clear out the fungus before it destroys “Liberty’s” park. Some of the mushrooms have faces that might be identified. Caption: Uncle Sam – Hello, Puck, are you “up a tree”? – Puck – No, but you will be if you don’t clear this stuff out pretty soon!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1885-02-25
Several members of Congress stand around a large Christmas tree labeled “Tax Surplus” decorated with money bags labeled “Surplus.” The legislators carry bags in which to place the bags of surplus they pluck from the tree. Among those identified are Charles W. Jones holding a bag labeled “Naval,” William E. Chandler holding a bag labeled “Subsidies for a Merchant Steam Marine,” William Mahone holding a bag labeled “Public Buildings and Grounds,” John A. Logan holding a bag labeled “Appropriations” and reaching for a sack on the tree, Joseph W. Keifer lifting George M. Robeson holding a bag labeled “Partners in the New Naval Scheme,” John Roach holding a bag labeled “New Navy Scheme,” Henry L. Dawes holding a bag labeled “River & Harbor Bill,” Francis M. Cockrell holding a bag labeled “Improvement of Mississippi River,” Eugene Hale holding a bag labeled “River & Harbor Bill,” John J. Ingalls holding a bag labeled “More Pensions,” Benjamin F. Jonas holding a bag labeled “Improvement of Mississippi River,” and Elbridge G. Lapham who is speaking to two well-dressed women, one holding a bag labeled “Lobby.” Lapham is also depicted in the angel at the top of the tree holding a banner labeled “Help Yourself.” Uncle Sam dances with three men in the foreground and, on the right, a lone “Taxpayer” stands outside in the snow.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1883-12-19
Print shows the “Light of Reason” shining from the upper right, illuminating bust portraits of “Johannes Kepler, I. Kant, Th. Paine, Jefferson, B. de Spinoza, Franklin, Voltaire, E. H. Haeckel, Tyndall, Huxley, [and] Darwin.” The light is blocked by a large umbrella labeled “Bigotry, Supernaturalism, [and] Fanaticism,” behind which are hiding various members of the clergy, including the Pope, Henry Ward Beecher, and T. De Witt Talmage. In the upper left, a vignette shows three female figures around an infant in a crib, with caption “God made Man and Endowed him with Free Will, Memory, and Understanding.” In the lower right is another vignette showing the Pope and other members of the clergy torturing a man, filling him with “Superstition,” with caption, “But it took a Deal of Altering in the Man before he could be made a ‘Good Citizen’.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1882-03-08