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The illustration shows veiled June brides. The caption reads “Juneflowers.”
With this cover cartoon Rose Cecil O”Neill Latham Wilson, the future creator of the Kewpies returned to Puck after an absence of several years. During that absence she had married the former editor of Puck, Harry Leon Wilson, and written and illustrated several novels.
Many children gather around Santa Claus and his bag of toys.
In the 1903 Christmas issue of Puck, the center-spread surrendered its typical political theme to a social and seasonal celebration for readers.
An elderly couple remembers Christmas Eve with their children or possibly as children.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1902-12-03
Two Irish housewives are visiting. One is sitting in a chair, holding an infant, and with a young boy standing next to her, smoking a cigar. They are discussing the boy’s desire to work for Richard Croker, a Tammany Hall boss. Caption: Mrs. Grogan. — Little Patsy siz phwhin he grows up he wants ter git a job workin’ fer Dick Croker. Mrs. Hogan. — Doin’ phwhat? Mrs. Grogan. — Either mayor or jockey; – he don’t care phwhich!
Behind the wonderful drawing by Rose O’Neill, who created the iconic Kewpie Doll a decade after this cartoon’s publication, and stagey Irish dialect is a political fact of which most readers would have been aware: “Boss” Croker of New York City’s corrupt Democratic machine Tammany Hall was also a breeder of thoroughbred race horses. Many Tammany politicians, from ward-heelers to mayors were, like Croker himself, rough Irish immigrants.
A Jewish family is getting ready to attend the theater. Caption: Mrs. Bernstein (getting ready for the theatre) I see dere vas a real fire-engine in dis blay. / Bernstein (sulkily) Den I von’t go. / Mrs. Bernstein But it eggsblodes on der vay to der fire. / Bernstein (merrily) Hurry up, dear! Ve may be too late!
There are two subtexts to this cartoon. First, there were a fair number of theater fires on Broadway in this period. Shoddy construction and materials were to blame; as theater owners (part of a meme of the day — a stereotype that the Theater Trust was populated by Jews) improved safety conditions, many stage curtains actually carried the Legend “Asbestos,” to assure patrons that some items were fireproof. The other backstory of the cartoon by O’Neill, once again trafficking in Jewish stereotypes, is the accents found in the caption and the frequently employed cliche that Jewish business owners engaged in arson to collect on insurance policies.
A pensive bachelor sits in front of a fireplace on Christmas Eve. The figure of Cupid stands before an open suitcase, its contents strewn about the floor, as a butler nervously attends to the clothes. The bachelor’s distress arises from his holiday solitude.
A popular theme of cartoonists in these times was the contrast of convivial lifestyles of unmarried society types and loneliness at holiday times. Rose O’Neill explored this theme no less than fellow cartoonists, but this pioneer female artist also specialized in the subjects of children, her creations The Kewpies, illustrations for romance novels, and, later in life erotic sculptures. She was also a writer and poet. Born in the Ozarks, at the time of this cartoon she was married to the society lion and inventor Gray Latham. Soon after this cartoon’s publication she divorced Latham and married Puck‘s editor, the popular humorist Harry Leon Wilson.
At a Sunday school picnic, adults and children are resting and playing, and eating in a rural setting. Included is a poem by Joseph Crosby Lincoln.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1900-08-01
Illustration showing an African American family on a small farm. In the background, a group of men, carrying rifles and a length of rope, are heading into a wooded area. Caption: Pete. — Am dis much bettah dan de ole slav’ry days, Uncle Tom? Uncle Tom. — I dunno, zac’ly. In dem times we wuz too valy’ble to be lynched!