Kelly, John, 1821-1886

Creation Date

1884-02-20

Creator(s)

Unknown

The “early-and-often” voter preferred

New York City Mayor Franklin Edson has his arm around an office seeker holding a paper that states “Application for Office – New York Ward Worker.” He gestures toward another office seeker who drops a paper that states “Application for Office – My small income forces me to reside outside New York” into the wastebasket. A portrait of John Kelly hangs on the wall next to the Mayor’s desk. Caption: Mayor Edson “Very sorry I can not appoint you; you may be capable, but you can’t vote!”

Collection

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Creation Date

1884-03-05

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)

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 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)

Speaker Keifer’s kaleidoscopic speech, at the NewYork Chamber of Commerce banquet, held at Delmonico’s, May 9, 1882

Print shows a vignette cartoon with a carriage at center in which Jay Gould, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and William H. Vanderbilt are riding with large money bags; the wheels are labeled “Corporations” and “Monopoly.” The carriage is driven by an eagle dressed like Uncle Sam wearing a top hat labeled “1882” and carrying a whip labeled “Revenue Tariff.” The carriage is pulled by an “Underpaid Workman,” a “Starving Laborer,” a “War Widow,” a “Sewing Girl,” an “Old Merchant,” a “Poor Clerk,” and a “Cripple,”among others, with ropes labeled “Tax.” The surrounding vignettes show scenes of corruption, misfortune, presidential office seekers, Valley Forge, and “Charitable Institutions for the poor and unfortunate” from “Maine” to “California” showing buildings labeled “Poor House” and “Jail.” Featured in these vignettes are such figures as Chester Alan Arthur, George M. Robeson, Samuel J. Tilden, Roscoe Conkling, John Kelly, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin F. Butler, and Joseph W. Keifer, as well as “Honest Labor, Patriotism, [and] Integrity.”

Collection

Creation Date

1882-05-24

Creator(s)

John Kelly galvanizes the corpse of Tammany

John Kelly tries to bring Tammany Hall back to life by turning an electrical apparatus labeled “Deal with the Republicans” connected first to an “Anti-Monopoly” device, then with wires spelling “Patronage” to a rod held by a man dressed as a Native American lying in a coffin labeled “Tammany Died 1880.” The jolt of electricity knocks the moccasins off his feet.

Collection

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

Creation Date

1882-05-31

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 perplexing position – between two evils

Print shows Puck standing between John Kelly, on the left, in front of “Tammany Hall,” holding a flag that states “Down with the Bloated Monopolists!!”, he has F.B. Thurber in his coat pocket, and on the right, Jay Gould, William H. Vanderbilt, and Cyrus W. Field as large money bags labeled “$”, standing in front of the “Monopoly Telegraph Co.” and the “Monopoly R.R.” A signpost, pointing to the left, states “To Anti-Monopolyville” and pointing to the right, “To Monopolyville.” Puck indicates that he would like to be an anti-monopolist, but not the John Kelly type. Caption: Puck “Well, I want to be an anti-monopolist; but not if that is one!”

Collection

Creation Date

1881-10-12

Creator(s)

Unknown

“A sail! A sail!!”

A woman labeled “Dem. Party” reclines on the rocky coast of a deserted island. Nearby is an empty jug labeled “Bourbonism the Only Subsistence for 16 Years (1860-76)” and a broken cask labeled “For 8 Years (1876-84) Sustained Life on the Fraud Issue.” She has sighted a ship labeled “Independent Republicans” headed her way. John Kelly, dressed like an Indian, is creeping over rocks on the right. He holds a bow labeled “Tammany” in one hand and an arrow labeled “Deal” in the other, and he wears a medallion around his neck labeled “J.K.”

Collection

Creation Date

1884-07-02

Creator(s)

With Puck’s compliments to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago – 1884

Puck holds a portrait of Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Opposed to Kelly 1876 – Carried New York by 32,000 Votes” and a portrait of Winfield Scott Hancock labeled “Supported by Kelly 1880 – Beaten in New York by 21,000 Votes.”

Collection

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

Creation Date

1884-07-09

Creator(s)

Escaping from the old shell

Print shows a moth or butterfly labeled “N.Y. County Democracy” with bust portraits of Lucius Robinson, Abram S. Hewitt, Samuel J. Tilden, and Clarkson N. Potter on the wings; it has just emerged from a pupa labeled “Tammany” with the face of John Kelly, and is flying toward a flower blossom labeled “1884”.

Collection

Creation Date

1881-11-02

Creator(s)

Gone to meet John Kelly

Print shows Hugh McLaughlin with a label that states “Boss McLaughlin Hades”, thrown from a pitchfork labeled “Resignation” toward John Kelly who is roasting on a grill over flaming coals in “Hades”.

Collection

Creation Date

1881-11-09

Creator(s)

Unknown

Solid for another year

John Kelly, wearing a tuxedo and winking, stands next to a large safe labeled “N.Y. City Treasury,” turning the combination labeled “Bargain Offices Spoils Steal” (BOSS). A notice at the bottom of the safe states, “$35,000,000 in here to be distributed this year.” Caption: John Kelly “I hold the combination – and what are you going to do about it?”

Collection

Creation Date

1884-01-30

Creator(s)

The Tammany Fagin and his pupils

John Kelly stands at the far end of a room, as Charles Dickens’s character Fagin, wearing a robe with a “Tammany Fund” money bag in a pocket. He is rubbing his hands together as a show of satisfaction. In the center of the room hangs an effigy labeled “N.Y. Tax-Payer” with three men labeled “Register, County Clerk, [and] Sheriff” who are learning to be pickpockets and have their hands in pockets filled with money. A notice hangs on the wall on the left, “Graduates of this School are sure to make from $50,000 to $80,000 a Year.”

Collection

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937

Creation Date

1884-02-06

Creator(s)

Too many leaders

In a winter scene, a soldier labeled “Democracy” stands in front of a road sign that points in four directions “Free Trade, To Tariff Reform, To Protection, [and] No Policy.” Between his feet is a small dog that looks like John Kelly. “Speaker Carlisle” as a drum major for “Reform” is standing in the left foreground. Behind and to the left are Benjamin Butler “Butlerism,” Abram S. “Hewitt” with “Free Trade” banner, and Samuel S. “Cox” pointing toward “Free Trade.” Samuel J. “Randall” is standing in the right foreground, wearing a helmet labeled “Protection.” Behind and to the right are Sereno “Payne” with banner labeled “Straddle Every Issue!”, Thomas “Bayard” holding papers that state “Dodge the Question,” and Samuel J. Tilden labeled “Ancient Issues.”

Collection

Creation Date

1884-01-30

Creator(s)

Another restorer of antiquities à la Cesnola

Print shows Charles A. Dana as an archaeologist who has just excavated a statue labeled “S.J.T.” and “Buried in 1876” from “Greystone,” behind which Henry Watterson, on the left, and John Kelly, on the right, glower and gesture in anger. Dana is using “Newspaper Cement” to attach arms, hands, and feet labeled “Popular Enthusiasm” and “New Political Footing” to the statue. One arm and hand with a flower labeled “Clean Record” have already been pinned in place. There is a basket of tools labeled “Editorials” and a pick labeled “Wire Pulling” at Dana’s side. In the background, a banner atop the White House states “Presidential Museum.” Caption: C. A. Dana (having excavated an Old Fossil) “I guess I can palm him off on the people for their Museum in 1884!”

Collection

Creation Date

1882-04-05

Creator(s)

A new way of “waking” the Democratic shaughraun

Print shows a small, rustic room crowded with members of the Democratic Party, some dressed as old women, others drinking and smoking clay pipes. One man, the “Shaughraun” labeled “Democratic Party,” is lying on a board that is resting on wooden supports. He is stirred to life by snuff sprinkled on his nose from a bowl labeled “Tariff Reform Snuff” by John G. Carlisle who is dressed in a formal uniform with sword. Among the crowd are Charles A. Dana, Benjamin F. Butler, and Samuel J. Tilden (all dressed as old women), Grover Cleveland, Samuel J. Randall, John Kelly, Henry Watterson, Abram S. Hewitt (dressed as an old woman), Samuel S. Cox, and Thomas F. Bayard (also dressed as an old woman), with arms raised in alarm and a broken pipe at his feet. On the far right are Thomas A. Hendricks drinking from a bottle labeled “Old Ticket Rye,” Winfield Scott Hancock, and Allen G. Thurman. Caption: “Captain” Carlisle shows that he is up to snuff.

Collection

Creation Date

1883-12-12

Creator(s)

“Evacuation day” March 4th, 1885 – a Democratic dream

Print shows the Republican Party, led by Chester A. Arthur, laying down their arms, with George M. Robeson, James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, Whitelaw Reid, Carl Schurz, John Sherman, Charles J. Folger, Robert T. Lincoln, John A. Logan, Ulysses S. Grant, James D. Cameron, George F. Hoar, George F. Edmunds, and Henry Ward Beecher, exiting a citadel in the background. They are surrendering the presidency to the Democratic Party, led by newspaper editors Joseph Pulitzer of the N.Y. World, Charles A. Dana, and Henry Watterson. Samuel J. Tilden “Old Ticket,” Benjamin F. Butler, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Hendricks, Winfield Scott Hancock, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Thomas F. Bayard are on horseback, and Tammany Hall, led by John Kelly, marches under the banner “To the Victors Belong the Spoils.”

Collection

Creation Date

1883-11-21

Creator(s)

In the jaws of death – a cold day for the Independent Party

Print shows Puck’s figure for the “Independent Party” in a small sailboat of that name, flying a banner labeled “Independents”, sailing through icy waters among large icebergs. In the background two ships labeled “Tariff Reform” and “Civil Service Reform” have wrecked on icebergs. Among the faces in the icebergs are Rutherford B. Hayes, Roscoe Conkling, George M. Robeson, William Mahone, George F. Hoar, James G. Blaine, Jay Gould, Cyrus W. Field, John Sherman, John A. Logan, Whitelaw Reid, Samuel J. Tilden, Hubert O. Thompson, John Kelly, Charles A. Dana, Thomas Hendricks, Thomas F. Bayard, Winfield Scott Hancock, Benjamin F. Butler, Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, Allen G. Thurman, Abram S. Hewitt, and Chester A. Arthur.

Collection

Creation Date

1883-11-07

Creator(s)