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 [...]
James G. Blaine’s Olympus of Corruption & Tattooed Man Revue
In 1884, the Republican Party nominee for President was former Speaker of the House James Blaine. Blaine was the equivalent of today’s Newt Gingrich — known for his lies, corruption, and immorality. His nomination resulted in Republicans’ first post-Civil War loss of the Presidency. To hilight why Blaine shouldn’t become President, Puck magazine’s artists produced [...]
James G. Blaine’s “The Tattooed Man”: He Can’t Out Run His Record, July 30th, 1884
There may no longer be any urgency in pointing out the parallels between the corrupt & morally lacking present Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, and the G.O.P.’s 1884 Presidential nominee, James Blaine. But, having already dug out and scanned a large number of Blaine cartoons — including several in the twenty-two cartoon Tattooed Man series — [...]
Teddy Roosevelt as the “New Tattooed Man”
Above, published 100 years ago tomorrow, Teddy Roosevelt as The New Tattooed Man — He Makes an Exhibition of Himself, by artist Joseph Keppler, Jr. Appearing on the front cover of the April 10th, 1912 issue of Puck magazine, the title references Puck‘s original series of “Tattooed Man” cartoons in 1884, featuring then Presidential candidate, [...]
James G. Blaine’s “The Tattooed Man” series: The Political Courtney, Sept 10th, 1884
Above, Newt Gingrich’s nineteenth century soulmate, James Blaine, a former Republican Speaker of the House, whose long record of corruption was parodied during the Election of 1884, in a series of twenty-two cartoons, depicting him as “The Tattooed-Man” — a man tattooed from head-to-toe with the multitude of his sins. The Political Courtney, by artist [...]
James Blaine’s “The Tattooed Man” as Phryné, June 4th, 1884
Above, Phryne Before the Chicago Tribunal, by artist Bernhard Gillam. Of the twenty-two cartoons in “The Tattooed-Man” series, the above is the best known, because of the reaction it generated. It ran as the centerspread in the June 4th, 1884 issue of Puck magazine, during the Republican nominating Convention in Chicago. The Tattooed Man series [...]
The Vault of Republican Morality: James Blaine’s “The Tattooed Man” series, June 11th, 1884
We return again with another cartoon in Puck magazine’s The Tattooed-Man series. parodying former Speaker of the House, James G. Blaine. His long career filled with corruption and impropriety, inspired Puck‘s artist to depict him as a man whose body is tattooed head-to-toe with his many sins. I’m running the series because of Blaine’s numerous [...]
The Man in Love with Himself: James Blaine, “The Tattooed-Man”, 1884
We return to Newt Gingrich’s late-19th Century soulmate, James G. Blaine, a former Speaker-of-the-House, nominated by the Republican Party as their Presidential choice. His run for the White House was brought down by his many accumulated acts of corruption and impropriety, which Puck magazine parodied in a series of cartoons by showing Blaine as a [...]
James G. Blaine’s Debut as “The Tattooed Man”, April 16, 2026
Above, by artist Bernhard Gillam, the April 16th, 1884 debut of Presidential candidate & eventual Republican Party nominee James Blaine, as The Tattooed Man. Blaine was the late 19th Century’s version of current candidate, Newt Gingrich — a former Speaker of the House, known for his astoundingly arrogance, reputation for lying, and a long history [...]
Pied Piper of the Republican Party, 1884 — The Children Refuse to be Charmed
With Newt Gingrich remaining in the current Republican primaries for minimally another month — and possibly much longer — we have an opportunity to start into the “Tattooed Man” series of cartoons, that parodied Newt’s 1884 equivalent, James G. Blaine. The above cartoon by artist Frederick Burr Opper, appeared on the rear cover of the [...]
