Night

A young couple and their driver stand in the snow outside the door to a building where a “stag” party is in progress. They are being invited in by two men at the door.

comments and context

Comments and Context

By 1905 Puck magazine had evolved from an exclusively politics-and-humor journal to a humor magazine with doses of politics. Its politics were evolving from Democratic and Reform-minded to Radical and Democratic. Such is the profile of its priorities. Additionally, before it ended publication in the ‘teens it fashioned itself after many European journals — witty, edgy, “smart” social commentary, with painted artwork as well as cartoons.

President Roosevelt, wearing buckskin and a raccoon hat, sits by a campfire at night, holding a knife, his rifle by his side. In the shadows beyond the light of the fire are a snake labeled “Mormonism,” a bull labeled “Beef Trust,” a strange bird labeled “Merger Bird,” a large fuel tank labeled “Oil Trust” with a snake-like appendage extending from the front with the head of John D. Rockefeller, and a bat labeled “Castro.” A tent is behind Roosevelt, on the right.

comments and context

Comments and Context

As most good political and editorial cartoons do, the drawings in Puck refer to contemporary issues and current events. They are remarkably fruitful for researchers of later times, but sometimes are so local and so timely as to occasionally deal in obscure controversies and forgotten figures.

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Unknown

Language

English

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

1915

Creator(s)

Edward H. Mitchell (Publisher)

Language

English

Colorized postcard showing a train traveling through the Royal Gorge on tracks next to the Arkansas River. The moon is visible in the cloudy sky. Text on the reverse of the postcard discusses and praises the eight-mile trip through the Royal Gorge via train.

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

A woman moors an airship to her chimney by the light of a full moon. On board the airship are “American Goods Bought in England” that are being smuggled into the U.S. because of high tariffs that make the products too expensive. Caption: Let him invest in an airship and smuggle his necessities.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Except for the sarcastic aspect of an airship used for smuggling, the Puck cover cartoon by Frank A. Nankivell predates by a neat one hundred years the advent of another airship whose household applications, including shopping, are commencing — the drone.

A man beating a large drum and a woman playing the cymbals in a street in the middle of the night disturb the sleep of everyone in the neighborhood. The drum is labeled “Salvation Army.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1897-06-30

A tiger labeled “Tammany” stands on the edge of a bluff overlooking New York City on the opposite side of a river, at night.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1913-09-17

A group of men make a surprise nighttime visit to Theodore Roosevelt, wearing pajamas, at Oyster Bay. Edward Henry Harriman carries a basket of lemons, James Roscoe Day carries a basket of “More Lemons,” Bellamy Storer carries a cake labeled “From Dear Maria” (his wife Maria Longworth Storer), Benjamin R. Tillman carries a watermelon, Chester I. Long carries a platter of “Welsh Rabbit” (possibly a reference to Herbert Welsh), and Joseph W. Bailey carries a bunch of bananas. Joseph Benson Foraker stands in the background, tipping his hat to Roosevelt.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon by Udo J. Keppler is an excellent summary for historians — and prescient commentary at the time — that despite President Roosevelt’s popularity throughout the United States, in 1907 he had a handful of nagging problems, a host of political opponents, and many looming challenges.