Puck, v. 64, no. 1652 | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

The expected

Puck, as the attending physician to the birth of Uncle Sam’s child, emerges from the birthing room. Caption: Uncle Sam — Well? / Dr. Puck — It’s a boy, and his name is Bill.

Comments and Context

There was a week to go before election day, and Puck cleverly dealt with the perennial (or quadrennial) intersection of the advance deadlines of weekly magazines and election-day returns. The father of cartoonist Udo J. Keppler, Puck‘s founder Joseph Keppler, drew complicated and clever compositions showing the figures representing parties shaking hands “over the bloody chasm”, hiding caricatures of several politicians within trees and jagged mountains; a Judge Magazine cartoonist once drew an elaborate election-day subject, leaving the face of the victor blank until the last minute, printing presses awaiting.

A question of courage

A man labeled “Average voter” stands between two fields, trying to decide which one he should choose. On the left is the “Democratic Lot” showing “Bryan’s Financial Fallacies, Schemes, Dreams, [and] Instability”; “Opposition to a Sound Banking System”; “Inexperience”; “Obstructive Policies”; “Tariff Reform”; “Jefferson’s Ideals”; “Low Leaders [Thomas] Taggart, Fingy [William J. Connors], Hinky Dink [Michael Kenna]”; Anti-Everything”; “Sectionalism”; and “Croak and Kick Statesmanship.” On the right is the “Republican Lot” showing “Past Prosperity” and “Constructive Policies” among “Arrogant Rule [Joseph Cannon], Extravagance, Tariff Graft, Parasite Plutocracy, Special Privilege, Swollen Fortunes, Pension Graft, Foraker Type of Statesman, [and as a snake] Wall Street.” Caption: The Democratic lot – Better soil / The Republican lot – a more alluring field.

Comments and Context

“A Question of Courage” was a remarkable cartoon to run in a prominent and usually partisan political journal. Puck, traditional Democrat-leaning, had been ambiguous during the 1908 presidential campaign, declining to be firmer in its tilt toward Republican candidate William H. Taft or utterly disapproving of Democrat William Jennings Bryan.