THE PROTECTORS OF OUR INDUSTRIES

“A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS,” APPEARS IN A 1918 NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE SAN ANTONIO LIGHT, THE SAME YEAR THE FINAL EDITION OF PUCK WAS PUBLISHED.



PUCK (1871-1918), WAS THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL HUMOR MAGAZINE CONTAINNING COLORFUL CARTOONS PORTRAYING SATIRE THAT RESONATE ON POLITICAL ISSUES EVEN TODAY.


IF A “PICTURE” IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, A PUCK “CARTOON” SHOWS A BOOK FULL OF STORIES.


The weekly magazine was founded by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler in St. Louis. It began publishing English and German language editions in March 1871. Five years later, the German edition of Puck moved to New York City, where the first magazine was published on September 27, 1876. The English language edition soon followed on March 14, 1877.

The English language magazine continued in operation for more than 40 years under several owners and editors, until it was bought by the William Randolph Hearst company in 1916. The publication lasted two more years; the final edition was distributed September 5, 1918. A typical 32-page issue contained a full-color political cartoon on the front cover and a color non-political cartoon or comic strip on the back cover. There was always a double-page color centerfold, usually on a political topic. There were numerous black-and-white cartoons used to illustrate humorous anecdotes. A page of editorials commented on the issues of the day, and the last few pages were devoted to advertisements.

"Puckish" means "childishly mischievous". This led Shakespeare's Puck character (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) to be recast as a charming near-naked boy and used as the title of the magazine. Puck was the first magazine to carry illustrated advertising and the first to successfully adopt full-color lithography printing for a weekly publication. The magazine consisted of 16 pages measuring 10 inches by 13.5 inches with front and back covers in color and a color double-page centerfold. The cover always quoted Puck saying, "What fools these mortals be!"


THIS EBOOK - MY SECOND – THE PROTECTORS OF OUR INDUSTRIES, SHOWS CYRUS FIELD, JAY GOULD, CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, AND RUSSELL SAGE, SEATED ON BAGS OF “MILLIONS,” N A LARGE RAFT SUPPORTED BY WORKERS OF VARIOUS PROFESSIONS.