On October 18th, 1882, the same day as Charles Taylor’s & the (New York) Daily Graphic’s second shot at William H. Vanderbilt for his “The Public be Damned!” comment, Puck magazine took aim on its front cover via the below cartoon by Frederick Burr Opper. Unlike their competitors, Puck didn’t hold back, actually printing the word “damned” in their version of “The Public be Damned!” (To see Taylor’s first shot, as well as find an article explaining various origins given for the comment, Click Here.)

In Opper’s cartoon, we see Vanderbilt the monopolist, his foot pushing down the American Eagle, and two lapdogs chained by his side, their collars reading Congress and Legislature. A few of William’s choice quotes are framed behind him, on the wall. But, his new quote will eclipse them all. Vanderbilt would never be forgiven for the comment, it becoming part of the majority of cartoons about him from this point forward. (For one example, see Opper’s The Monopoly Pharaohs Building Their Tombs, published more than a year later, wherein “The Public be Damned” is depicted carved above the entrance to Vanderbilt’s tomb/pyramid.)

Click on the below picture to make it larger.

Below from the same issue, Puck’s editorial prose piece on the matter, their outrage at about peak level.

Okay, at this point there are two more sequential Vanderbilt strips by Charles Taylor, plus several more Puck and Daily Graphic cartoons by Frost, Opper, and Keppler to show, which hilight W.H. Vanderbilt’s beginning and end. The next Taylor strip involves William Vanderbilt as Santa Claus (yes, really!), that I’d hate to not use at Christmas time. So I’m halting my current run of William Vanderbilt material today, on the high note of train crashes and his “Public be Damned!” comment. I’ll return around Christmas, with Vanderbilt Santa Scrooge and the rest!

Click on William H. Vanderbilt to review all the past postings about him.

Doug Wheeler

financial reform NYPuck