Davis, David, 1815-1886

Creation Date

1883-05-30

Creator(s)

Our national dog-show

At a dog show, a variety of breeds are competing. In the upper left corner, labeled the “Judges’ Stand,” are several newspaper editors, including James Gordon Bennett, Whitelaw Reid, Murat Halstead, Charles A. Dana, Henry Watterson, and George W. Curtis. They are judging two dogs, Winfield Scott Hancock and Samuel J. Tilden. Other dogs depicted are “Sesquipedalian Sleuth Hound Evarts, Mulligan Mongrel, Rossa Runt – take care dangerous, Lap Dogs Monopoly Breed”, also Chester A. Arthur, William Mahone, Thomas Collier Platt, Roscoe Conkling, James D. Cameron, John Logan, “Pointer Bayard, Tammany Tarrier, House Dog Edson, Dachshund, Toby Dog, Poodle, Water-dog,” David Davis, U.S. Grant, “Tewksbury Ratter, Hoar-Hound, Hybrid Hayes” and at center, “Puck’s entry Cleveland [and] S. Low.”

Collection

Creation Date

1883-05-09

Creator(s)

The end of a bad show

In the “Grand National Congressional Theatre” the performance of “Fair Promise Combination No. 47 – Great Reform Bill – Act I Tariff Reform – Act II Civil Service Reform – Act III Internal Revenue Reform” is concluding. The audience is pelting the cast with cats, eggs, onions, turnips, and other vegetables and fruits. Among those on stage are David Davis, Thomas W. Ferry, George M. Robeson, Jay A. Hubbell, Frank Hiscock, Horace F. Page, and William Mahone.

Collection

Creation Date

1883-02-28

Creator(s)

A dreadful attack of “presidential fever” in the U.S. Senate

Puck stands in the Senate chamber, among many senators sick with “Presidential Fever.” Puck is offering a spoonful of “Anti-Presidential Quinine” to John Sherman. Among the senators present are Wade Hampton, George Frisbie Hoar, J. D. Cameron, William Mahone, Warner Miller, Daniel W. Voorhees, John Alexander Logan, George F. Edmunds, John Sherman, George Graham Vest, Thomas F. Bayard, John P. Jones, and David Davis. Peering over the chamber walls are George M. Robeson, Jay Gould, and Roscoe Conkling.

Collection

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Creation Date

1883-02-21

Creator(s)

Let the political army have new drums also!

Ulysses S. Grant is leading his “Grant Boom” band comprised of Samuel J. Tilden, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Roscoe Conkling, William W. Phelps, David Davis, James D. Cameron, John Sherman, James G. Blaine, John Kelly, Winfield Scott Hancock, William Mahone, and John Logan. Most carry drums that are broken or in disrepair. Across the street, in front of the “Political Armory,” Puck is operating a makeshift stand, issuing “New Drums for Old Drums.” Benjamin F. Butler kicks away his old drum labeled “Butlers Old Policies” and is getting a new drum labeled “Civil Service Reform.” Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low and Grover Cleveland are trying out new drums labeled “Independence” and “Civil Service Reform.” Other new drums are labeled “Tariff Reform, Political Honesty, Anti-Monopoly, Honesty, [and] For the People.” Caption: The U.S. Army is to have new drums. In their day the old drums did good service. Now they must retire and give place to better drums. Phila. Record.

Collection

Creation Date

1883-02-14

Creator(s)

Overtraining young horses

A horse labeled “Butler’s Policy” ridden by Benjamin F. Butler is kicking up its rear legs, startling a horse labeled “Cleveland’s Policy” ridden by Grover Cleveland at the “Presidential Race-Course” where “Horses [are] Trained for Presidential Races.” The “Gubernatorial Training Stables” are at far left. Gathered beneath a large tree on the right, observing, are John Logan, Roscoe Conkling, James Gillespie Blaine, John Sherman, David Davis, Winfield Scott Hancock, Ulysses S. Grant, Schuyler Colfax, and Samuel J. Tilden. Caption: Dismounted Jockeys – The horses look well enough now; but they began training too early; and will break down long before the race!

Collection

Creation Date

1883-01-31

Creator(s)

Puck’s pyrotechnics – Fourth-of-July fireworks free to all

Print shows a fireworks display with Puck bowing on a stage in front of a “Fan Light” featuring the likenesses of William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and Jay Gould; on stage with Puck is a hand holding a smoldering torch which may represent Bartholdi’s hand and torch from the Statue of Liberty. On the left is a pagoda labeled “Puck Office” and on the right is a building labeled “Tammany Hall.” Among the fireworks are many faces of politicians and other prominent figures of the day, some labeled by type of firework, such as “Chicago Shower” – Arthur, Grant, Conkling, Logan and Cameron; “Tumbler” – Tilden; “Twister” – Schurz; “The Falling Tammany Star” – Kelly; “Bomb” – Davis; “Junk Whizzler” – Robeson; “Polar Rocket” – Bennett; “Buster” – Butler; and “Star Route Staggerer” – Dorsey. Others shown are James G. Blaine, Henry Ward Beecher, Elizabeth Tilton(?), Thomas De Witt Talmage, and Theodore Tilton.

Collection

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Creation Date

1882-07-05

Creator(s)

Puck’s own Yorktown celebration

Print shows Puck sitting on a wooden cut-out Pegasus reviewing a procession of soldiers, among whom are John A. Logan, Roscoe Conkling carrying a flag labeled “Third Term”, Joseph W. Keifer, William M. Evarts, David Davis, James G. Bennett, John Kelly, Cyrus W. Field, William H. Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Samuel J. Tilden, Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas De Witt Talmage, and riding on horseback, Henry Ward Beecher. Following the soldiers, in the background on the right, is a float showing an old soldier labeled “Our Army” and a decrepit ship labeled “Our Navy”. In the background, on the left, is a reviewing stand for the “Foreign Guests”, with a French flag on one side and a German flag on the other. Caption: His army of contributors passing in review before our foreign guests.

Collection

Creation Date

1881-10-19

Creator(s)

A presidential conjuror

President Arthur appears as a magician on a stage, pulling cards out of a hat and tossing them into the audience. The cards are labeled “Secretary of Navy, Foreign Minister, Interior, Consulate, Collectorship, Soft Soap, Minister to Turkey, Quashed Endictment, Secretary of War, Protection, Postmaster, Promises, Gratitude, [and] Reciprocity.” On the stage are other magic devices, a “Great Machine Trick” showing cards and labeled “New Political Deal Trick,” a wheel labeled “Stalwartism Neutrality Halfbreedism,” a bottle labeled “Ever-lasting Patronage Bottle,” a cone labeled “Great Veto Extinguish Trick,” and a drum labeled “Last Grand Trick Resignation.” Among those in the audience are Carl Schurz, John A. Logan, Thomas De Witt Talmage, David Davis, Joseph W. Keifer, John P. Jones, Stephen W. Dorsey, Thomas J. Brady, William M. Evarts, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel J. Kirkwood. Caption: What Mr. Arthur must be to satisfy all the politicians.

Collection

Creation Date

1881-10-12

Creator(s)

Another bombardment – the newspaper fleet firing on the Bedouins in Washington

Print shows newspaper editors Charles A. Dana, James G. Bennett, Carl Schurz, Henry Watterson, George W. Curtis, and Whitelaw Reid, as well as Puck, with a fleet of paper gunboats labeled “N.Y. Times, N.Y. Sun, N.Y. Herald, Ev. Post, Puck, Brooklyn Eagle, Courier-Journal, Harpers, Phila Times, Mail, [and] N.Y. Tribune.” The fleet is firing cannons, “ink” bottles, and pens, bombarding a fortress flying a flag labeled “Plunder,” where the walls are comprised of paper bundles labeled “Bills, Jobs, Bargains, Corrupt Bills, [and] Logrolling.” The fortress is defended by “Robeson Bey” standing at center with a bandage labeled “Record” around his head, “Keifer” and “Jones,” with John A. Logan labeled “306,” James D. Cameron, David Davis, John Sherman, and others. Cannonballs burst among them labeled “Criticism, Censure, [and] Condemnation.” The fortress cannons are labeled “River & Harbor Bill $20,000,000, Pension Arrears $103,962,300, Monitor Job, Public Buildings, Mileage Steal, [and] Mississippi Levee.” Within the fortress are the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Treasury labeled “Ammunition House.”

Collection

Creation Date

1882-08-02

Creator(s)

The great congressional tramp bullying the old women of the national household

George M. Robeson, shabbily dressed as a tramp, stands in a doorway. Joseph Warren Keifer, as a small dog with a cap labeled “Speaker” tied to its tail, stands behind Robeson, and on the floor at his feet is a broken plate labeled, “Appropriations $182,496,018 Administration 1868-76.” He carries a club labeled “Repn. Leadership” and branded on the palm of his left hand is the word “More.” His appearance in the doorway frightens the “Old Women” of Congress who were gathered around a table, drinking tea. Depicted wearing women’s dress are William Windom standing behind the door labeled “Congress,” John P. Jones spilling a pot of tea, John Sherman fainting, John Alexander Logan labeled “306” and supporting Sherman, J. D. Cameron also labeled “306,” Frank Hiscock, George F. Edmunds, David Davis eating an “Independent Plum,” B. W. Harris and Abram S. Hewitt locking the “Appropriations Pantry,” and William P. Frye hiding behind a chair. Uncle Sam and Puck appear at far left, running toward the building.

Collection

Creation Date

1882-07-12

Creator(s)

The Presidential recruiting-office

In the interior of a recruiting office for the presidency, Uncle Sam and Puck examine potential recruits against a height chart labeled, from low to high, “Notoriety, Popularity, Capability, Honesty, [and at the top] Statesmanship.” A number of men, in various states of undress, have been rejected for a variety of reasons: “Evarts Too Long-Winded, [U.S. Grant] Retired, [Conkling] Too Pigeon-Breasted, [Thomas Collier Platt] Me Too Little, Mahone Must be Readjusted, J. B. Rejected Too Crooked, Dana Rejected – Too Shortsighted, [Logan] Grammar Feeble, [Arthur] Rejected No Backbone, [Davis] Short Winded, Sherman Bloody Shirt Mania, [Kelly] Pig-Headed, Payne Oil on the Brain, Randall Protection Madness, Bayard Unstable, [Tilden] Rejected Cipher Catarrh, [and] B[utler] Can’t See Straight.” Five tall men, “Admitted to the Competition,” stand on the right: “Hewitt, Carlisle, Morrison, Lincoln [and] Edmunds O. K.”

Collection

Creation Date

1884-04-30

Creator(s)

The national dime-museum – will be run during the presidential campaign

A gallery of presidential candidates includes, clockwise, from bottom left: John Kelly as a card-playing pig, Chester A. Arthur as “The Snake Charmer” charming a snake labeled “Stalwart Vote” with a horn labeled “Patronage,” Benjamin F. Butler as “What is it?,” “Siamese Twins Keifer [and] Robeson,” John A. Logan as the “Wild Zulu on the Warpath,” “Carlisle, Morrison, [and] Hewitt” as a “Wax Group of Three Heroes Who Perished in an Attempt to Reach the Pole of Tariff Reform,” “‘Richelieu’ Robinson” as a “Fire Eater,” Charles A. “Dana” as a “Screech Parrot,” a cage containing an “Un-Happy Family – N.Y. Board of Aldermen,” an “Ancient Mummy Exhumed Lately” labeled “1876 Fraud Issue – S. J. T.,” John “Sherman” as “The Man in the Bloody Shirt,” Henry Watterson as a buffalo, Whitelaw Reid as a giraffe, and Samuel J. Randall(?) as “The Democratic White Elephant,” William “Evarts” as the thin man, Roscoe Conkling as the bearded lady, David “Davis” as the Fat Lady, Robert Todd “Lincoln” and George F. “Edmunds” as “The Two Giants,” James G. Blaine as the tattooed man, T. C. “Platt” and William “Mahone” as Tom Thumb and his bride, and Samuel S. “Cox” as a dancing poodle. In the center is a stuffed tiger labeled “Tammany” on a pedestal labeled “Killed by Roosevelt.”

Collection

Creation Date

1884-04-16

Creator(s)

The contest of beauty

A beauty contest is underway where “First Prize” is the “Presidency.” The presidential candidates, all dressed as women, are sitting on raised platforms around which men have gathered to admire their beauty. Two men in the lower left appear to be voting for number “1. The Empire State Enslaver.” Among those in the running are “2. The same Old Widow from Beanville, 3. The Mulligan Masher from Maine [holding fan labeled] J. Blaine, 4. The Delaware Darling, 5. The Indiana Dumpling [holding fan labeled] J. E. MDonald, 6. The Homespun Houri of Ohio, 7. The Illinois Pet, 10. Utica Immortelle, 11. The Buffalo Girl, 12. The Indiana ‘Sun-Flower’ [with ribbon labeled] W. S. Holman, 13. The Nation’s Ex-Favorite [holding fan labeled] U.S.G., 14. The Pension Ring Pocahontas [with fan labeled] Logan, 15. The Centennial Spinster Ex-Champion de jure, 16. The Free Trade Fairy [with fan labeled] Hewitt, 17. The Ohio Water Lily Ex-Champion de facto, 18. The Pearl of Protection [with fan labeled] Randall, The Sherman Sisters 19. The Tecumseh Twin, 20. The Treasury Twin, 21. The Virtuous Vermonter [with fan labeled] Edmund, [and] 22. The Fat Fairy.” Among those depicted are Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin F. Butler, James G. Blaine, Thomas Bayard, Joseph E. McDonald, Allen G. Thurman, Robert Todd Lincoln, Roscoe Conkling, Grover Cleveland, William Steele Holman, Ulysses S. Grant, John Logan, Samuel J. Tilden, Abram S. Hewitt, Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel J. Randall, William T. Sherman, John Sherman, George F. Edmunds, and David Davis.

Collection

Creation Date

1884-01-23

Creator(s)

A new bull in the ring

Print shows Chester A. Arthur riding the Republican elephant tossed high in the air in a “Political Arena.” The elephant is patched with scandals labeled “Credit Mobilier, Collusion with Monopolies, Back Pay Grab, Third Termism, Whiskey Ring, Navy Ring, [and] Dorsey ‘Soap’ 1880.” Below, on the floor of the arena, Samuel J. Tilden is sitting backwards on a donkey labeled “Incurable” and Puck’s Independent Party figure is riding a bucking bull, its horns labeled “Anti-Monopoly” and “Tariff Reform.” Puck applauds from a viewing stand on the right; sitting in the grandstand at left are Ulysses S. Grant, Cyrus W. Field, Rutherford B. Hayes, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin F. Butler, Adams, David Davis, Allen G. Thurman, William M. Evarts, Abram S. Hewitt, George F. Edmunds, Wayne MacVeagh, and George B. McClellan. Caption: Puck presents another prophetic cartoon – and the sooner it is realized the better.

Collection

Graetz, F. (Friedrich), approximately 1840-approximately 1913

Creation Date

1882-04-19

Creator(s)

Rushing the season

In the interior of the “Political Hot House,” many plants with the heads of politicians are potted and labeled with botanical names, for example “Butleria Cockeya,” “McVeaghia No Chancea,” “Tildenus Fossilis,” “Blainea Sunstrokea,” “Hewittia Tariffia,” “Shermania Honestia,” and “Thurmania Ragbabia.” At center is a figure fashioned from quill pens, a drum labeled “Press,” and newspapers labeled “Louisville Courier Journal, N. Y. Sun, Tribune, Herald, Advertiser, Times, [and] Cincinnati C[…],” holding a potted plant labeled “Arthuria Accidentalia.” A politician holding a spade labeled “Out of a Job” gestures toward the door of the greenhouse. In the background is the “White House.” Among the plants are Rutherford B. Hayes, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, George B. McClellan, Roscoe Conkling, Cyrus W. Field, Samuel J. Tilden, Allen G. Thurman, John Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Wayne MacVeagh, George F. Edmunds, William M. Evarts, Benjamin F. Butler, Abram S. Hewitt, Chester A. Arthur, James G. Blaine, David Davis, and a plant identified as “Adams Icebergea.” Caption: Unoccupied Politician “Oh, I assure you, my dear Mr. Press, it’s none too early to begin to set out the Presidential Plants!”

Collection

Creation Date

1882-04-05

Creator(s)

Leap-year

Near a wetland labeled “Campaign Swamp” are William M. Evarts and John G. Carlisle as two cranes on the left. Several frogs identified as “Lincoln, Arthur, Robeson, Edmunds, Cameron, Sherman, Logan, Grant, Davis, [and] Blaine” perch on the right. Another small frog, labeled “Me Too,” who may be Jay Gould, rides piggy-back on a larger frog that may be William H. Vanderbilt. “Lincoln” is making a leap over “Arthur” across a bit of water toward a board labeled “Presidential Nomination 1884” that is part of a dock or wharf. Caption: It would not surprise us to see the above acrobatic feat performed by this rising young frog.

Collection

Creation Date

1884-03-26

Creator(s)

A summer smoke-cloud

Puck reclines before a table covered with alcoholic beverages, some labeled “V. H. Dusenbury’s P.P. Brandy” and “Puck Punch [No London Punch],” smoking and blowing smoke rings. Among the figures appearing in Puck’s smoke cloud are Chester Alan Arthur labeled “For a Good Veto” and fishing for “Popularity”; George M. Robeson at the helm of a boat carrying a large money bag labeled “Appropriation”; Jay Gould, Russell Sage, and William H. Vanderbilt sailing on a boat labeled “Monopoly”; Susan B. Anthony and another woman, George William Curtis labeled “Civil Service Reform,” Roscoe Conkling, Jay A. Hubbell labeled “Deform,” Ulysses S. Grant labeled “No Third Term,” David Davis, Robert Green Ingersoll boxing with Thomas De Witt Talmage, James Gordon Bennett, “Old Rossa” with “Dynamite,” Cyrus W. Field trying to net a “Coronet,” John Kelly and Samuel J. Tilden on a seesaw, William Russell Grace standing on a rock labeled “Public Esteem” with Seth Low trying to climb up, and James Russell Lowell on a “British Mission.”

Collection

Creation Date

1882-08-09

Creator(s)

Who killed Hancock?

The ghost of Winfield Scott Hancock sits on a throne in a banquet hall. Samuel J. Tilden pushes a frightened Charles A. Dana, as Macbeth, toward Hancock. Dana makes wild statements while waving around a note for $5000.00. A chalice has fallen to the floor, spilling “Harmony.” Samuel S. Cox, as a court jester, sits on the floor next to the throne with “S.S. Cox’s Joke Book” at his knee. The room is filled with courtiers, among them Thomas A. Hendricks, Grover Cleveland who has fallen backwards onto John Kelly, Thomas F. Bayard, Samuel J. Randall, David Davis, Henry Watterson, Abram S. Hewitt, Hubert O. Thompson, George Hoadly, and Benjamin F. Butler. All seem to be sitting in judgment of Dana. Caption: MacBeth-Dana–“Never shake thy gory locks at me! I’ll bet you Five Thousand Dollars thou canst not say I did it!!”

Collection

Creation Date

1883-08-29

Creator(s)

The political Sam’ls of Posen

Print shows a large group of political peddlers trying to sell their goods to Columbia as mistress of the house. Among those shown are Samuel J. Tilden selling “Tribulation Toys”; Benjamin F. Butler with “Elastic Politics” suspenders; Ulysses S. Grant, “306” on his watch chain, with a sack of “War Record” and “Old Clo’s”; Roscoe Conkling with a bag of “Stalwart Stationery”; James Gillespie Blaine offering his card “J. Blaine Fancy Goods” with a bag of “Southern Policy [and] Fancy Notions”; Thomas Hendricks; Chester Alan Arthur; David Davis peddling “D. Davis’s Soap will Scour Both Parties”; Abram S. Hewitt; William Evarts; Allen Granbery Thurman with a sack of “Rag Babies”; John Alexander Logan peddling “Logan Bombast”; Grover Cleveland with a sack of “Clean Shirts”; Thomas F. Bayard peddling “Dodge Salve” and “Bayards No Policy”; John Sherman with “Honest Hosiery”; and Winfield Scott Hancock with “Clean Gloves.” Dashing up in the background are “Johann Kelly & Co., Samuells Randall & Co., [and] Gen. Sherman U.S.A.” Uncle Sam is sitting, in the upper left, with his feet on the railing of the second floor porch. Caption: Columbia – “Not to-day – some other day!”

Collection

Creation Date

1883-07-25

Creator(s)