Puck, v. 50, no. 1288

President Theodore Roosevelt nails a “notice” to the door of a federal building that states: “I will appoint no man to office, even if recommended by the organization, unless he is wholly qualified for the position he seeks and is a man of integrity.” Four men in the lower right, one labeled “Machine Politician” and another labeled “Party Heeler,” cringe before the notice.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-11-06

A series of vignettes illustrate how women’s social life impacts their domestic life, their problems with servants, the troubles neglected children get into, and how home life can be improved by curtailing their social life. The heading over the main scene states: Grand Federation of the Housewives of America for the Protection against incompetence, insolence, & dominance of the Servant Girl in the household.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Puck delivers two blows against common themes of the day: Feminism that resulted in what critics then called “The Emancipated Woman” is depicted by cartoonist Ehrhart as producing unruly children and troubled marriages, and, Puck suggests, if women returned to their household duties, the scourge of unsophisticated and domineering immigrant servants would end.