Puck, v. 62, no. 1589 | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

One phase of it

Four drunk young people ride in a speeding automobile driven by “Demon Rum.”

Comments and Context

In 1907 the automobile was coming into its own, reaching the middle class. It previously had been a rich person’s toy, expensive and a complicated luxury. The plethora of automobile manufacturers increased at such a pace the Puck magazine’s rival Life swelled to 120 pages on some weeks because of advertisements from automakers, tire manufacturers, and such. Life even conducted a mock “rally,” not for miles or speed but for the volume of ads placed in its pages.

In the Republican Eden

In the Garden of Eden, God or an angel labeled “The Trusts” points toward an apple tree labeled “The Tariff.” Theodore Roosevelt, as Adam, is crouched behind a fig bush to hide his nakedness, and Eve is standing among palms, her body hidden mostly by long hair labeled “Republican Party.” The figures and faces of various trust magnates and trust-friendly legislators are in bushes and trees throughout the cartoon. Caption: “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it.” Genesis 2:3

Comments and Context

Through the decades, Puck‘s cartoons more than occasionally used Biblical scenes, Shakespearean motifs, and famous operatic moments as the basis of political cartoons. This drawing by Udo J. Keppler is more tortured than most, not due to theology but its political ambiguity. Oddly, Puck and its rival Judge virtually always excoriated the trusts (Puck especially) but occasionally praised them for “administrative efficiency” or “increased employment.” Local and temporary factors — even advertising revenue — might have played roles.