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Puck, v. 59, no. 1528

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The village blacksmith

The village blacksmith

A large man labeled “Big Shipper” appears as a blacksmith holding a diminutive man labeled “Small shipper” on an anvil labeled “The Rail Road” and striking it with a hammer labeled “Rebates.” On the floor at his feet is a pile of coins labeled “Illegitimate Profits,” and eager schoolchildren (Nelson W. Aldrich, Chauncey M. Depew, Thomas Collier Platt, and others) gather at the entryway hoping to “catch the burning sparks that fly like chaff from the threshing floor.” Includes verse.

Comments and Context

This cartoon by Udo J. Keppler appeared only two weeks before the passage of the Hepburn Act, the long-awaited, intensely contentious, law that granted the Interstate Commerce Commission power to review and cap railroad rates; extending regulatory jurisdiction over lines and competition; and eliminated rebates and free passes. The Hepburn Act technically was a group of amendments to the toothless Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.

Its passage revolutionized fairer commerce and let small railroads establish themselves and compete, especially in under-served areas of the United States, which in turn spurred further development of the continent’s farming and small manufacturing activities.

[The meat market]

[The meat market]

A butcher labeled “The Beef Trust” stands behind a counter in a butcher shop. Around him are meat products labeled “Potted Poison, Chemical Corn Beef, Bob Veal Chicken, Tuberculosis Lard, Decayed Roast Beef, Deodorized Ham, Embalmed Sausages, [and] Putrefied Pork.” A verse from the Bible appears below the counter: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.” Matthew VI:25.

Comments and Context

Carl Hassmann’s cover cartoon in Puck is of a recent thematic preoccupation in the weekly — not intending to amuse, and advocating for a cause rather than a party. At the muckraking height of scandals and exposes of the Beef Trust, the meat-packing industry, adulterated foods, and dangerous patent medicines, a stereotypical grimy butcher might have converted readers to vegetarianism, but at least stoked the campaigns for Pure Food and Drug laws.

Bob veal, by the way, sometimes passing as chicken, is today banned in places. It is the meat of baby cattle between two hours and two days old. The meat is, predictably, tender. In traditional Roman cuisine, and making a comeback in some Roman restaurants, pajata is a dish made from baby veals’ intestines containing only chyme (partially digested mother’s milk), tied as little sausages and served with rigatoni.