As to the many theatrical failures, business will pick up when–
At center, mannequin models are being constructed as stand-ins for actors. They are surrounded by scenes of price gouging, poorly attended performances, the use of wooden actors, indifference to customers, and haughty attitudes by theater staff, and the resulting failure of business. Above the main scene are the ghosts of past actors labeled “Booth, Gilbert, Forrest, Cushman, [and] Wallack.”
Comments and Context
Cartoonist Ehrhart was producing double-page spreads in Puck by 1903, approximately once a month, on social subjects, in a template of one major cartoon surrounded by a galaxy of related humorous jokes. Occasionally these commentaries had “bite,” however, as in this cartoon.