The magazine was called
Puck, and it was named for William Shakespeare’s character from
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was Puck who delivered the line, “What fools these mortals be!”
Founded by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler (1838-1894), the magazine prominently featured political cartoons skewering politicians of the time. And when it added color,
Puck became a “newsstand eye-catcher, a political force and a magnet for aspiring cartoonists and humorous writers,” explains the
Smithsonian Institution’s website. Keppler, born in Vienna, showed his ability as an artist early on, and he trained in the German style of cartoon illustration. In the wake of revolution in the Austrian Empire in 1848, his father was forced to leave the country and found a home in Missouri.
Keppler, his mother and siblings stayed behind initially. But in 1867, he traveled to the U.S. By 1875, Keppler was living in New York and working as an artist for
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, according to the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. But Keppler had an entrepreneurial streak and launched
Puck magazine in 1876 in German. One year later, in March 1877, an English-language version appeared. That year, Rutherford B. Hayes took office as the
19th president. The magazine was 16 pages and sold for 10 cents, recounts the website for the
Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University. Keppler died in 1894, but the English version continued in publication until 1918. For better or for worse, the magazine’s artists took aim at Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency (1901-1909).
Keppler's son, Udo (Joseph Keppler Jr.), was also an artist whose work appeared in the magazine. See more
Puck illustrations here.
To know more:
Related:
Counting heads: An election lexicon
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