A Christmas joke with a point to it
Subject(s): Christmas, Frontier and pioneer life, Holidays, Indians of North America, Turkeys
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In the interior of a frontier cabin, a long table is set for a Christmas turkey dinner. Around the table are seated several people, some of whom are surprised to discover an arrow stuck in the turkey, shot by a Native standing outside the open door of the cabin.
Comments and Context
In Puck Magazine’s holiday issues — Easter, Midsummer, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas — the publishers generally yielded space routinely reserved for political cartoons to thematic, seasonal, or purely humorous subjects.
The 1906 Christmas number was no exception, and Puck‘s Austrian import Carl Hassmann was counted on to provide superb-poster like artwork in addition to clever ideas. This center-spread cartoon, in fact, is not very clever or funny — a Native American startles Colonial revelers at dinner with an arrow aimed at the holiday turkey — but does tell us something about the times of the cartoon’s creation. The Pilgrims are rather more up-to-date than their 1600s versions, especially the women, and the Indian is not depicted as a savage but rather a friendly prankster.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1906-12-05
Creator(s)
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
A Christmas joke with a point to it. [December 5, 1906]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284164. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Hassmann, Carl, 1869-1933. A Christmas joke with a point to it. [5 Dec. 1906]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284164.
APA:
Hassmann, Carl, 1869-1933., [1906, December 5]. A Christmas joke with a point to it.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o284164.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
