Focus on Cartoonists: Cartoons Magazine Centennial February 1913
Cartoons Magazine continues its trend to expand its prose articles by and about cartoonists. Gathered here are all the articles from the February 1913 issue. Click on the above & below pages, to display them large enough to read. Above, artist William Kemp Starrett writes about a cartoonist’s day. Below, we have an article written [...]
A Visit from St. Nicholas, 1864
From 1864, we have A Visit from St. Nicholas — a fold-out strip version of “The Night Before Christmas”. It was published by Louis Prang & Company (best known for publishing postcards, Christmas cards, and Valentines), and is part of a boxed set of half a dozen fold-out lithographic booklets (only two of which — [...]
“Tattooed-Man” Series, 1884 + “Blaine Language”, 1888 (Part 3)
Above, The Honor of the Country in Danger, by artist Bernhard Gillam. The centerspread cartoon in the October 29th, 1884 issue of Puck magazine, this was part of the “Tattooed Man” Series, it is one of twenty-two cartoons which ran in Puck in 1884, satirizing the candidacy for President of Republican Maine Senator, James G. [...]
James G. Blaine’s “Tattooed-Man”, September 24th, 1884: Money Will Be Vindicated
Above, by artist Bernhard Gillam, from the centerspread of the September 24th, 1884 issue of Puck magazine, we have the 1884 G.O.P. Presidential-nominee, James Blaine, featured in the cartoon Blaine Will Be Vindicated in November. The cartoon is a play on an argument given by the N.Y. Tribune (then a Republican mouthpiece newspaper, twisting and [...]
Andy’s Trip to the West, 1866
For this week’s Non-Partisan Monday, we present in its entirety the 1866 political comic book parody, Andy’s Trip to the West, written by then-popular humorist Petroleum V. Nasby (pseudonym of David Ross Locke), and illustrated by…unknown. (Some have claimed it to be illustrated by Thomas Nast, but the art style doesn’t really match; plus, anything illustrated [...]
Jay Gould, the King of the Robber Barons, Part 1
"… The King of the Robber Barons … the most Hated Man in America … a Predator and Wrecker of properties …" Descriptions of Jay Gould by historians and biographers 174 years ago today, on May 27, 1836, Jason "Jay" Gould was born in the small town of Roxbury New York. His family was poor, [...]
Makin’ Links # 133
In working with Craig on his book, The Great Anti-War Cartoons, I developed a fascination with great caricaturists. Now comes the site,Great Caricatures, offering up histories and galleries on such as Thomas Nast, André Gill and the highly influential artist, Honoré Daumier. Perhaps best of all, The showrunner of that site, David Donihue, is now a [...]
This Day In Arf History: The First Appearance of the “Democratic” Donkey
Well, Arf Lovers, some of you have been waiting for this one for a while: today in 1870, Thomas Nast’s first used the image of a donkey to represent the Democratic Party (aka Copperheads). The jackass was first used as a symbol for that party way back during the presidency of “stubborn” Andrew Jackson, but [...]
This Day In Arf History: Thomas Nast Dies
The creator of the republican elephant and democratic donkey, Thomas Nast can be called the father of modern political cartooning. He had the kind of influence editorial cartoonists dream of today: Nast was directly responsible for the downfall and consequent arrest of Boss Tweed, who was apprehended as he fled through Spain by authorities who [...]
This Day in Arf History: First Appearance of Republican Elephant
Heck, let me just quote the Academy of Natural Sciences on this one: “In 1874, the New York Herald printed an editorial accusing Republican President Ulysses S. Grant of “Caesarism,” in the belief that he would attempt to run for an unprecedented third term in 1876. About the same time the Herald concocted a scheme [...]
