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Thanksgiving / J. Keppler. - Political cartoon, public domain image

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Summary

Print shows Uncle Sam, Columbia, and Puck sitting at a table, ready to enjoy a Thanksgiving turkey dinner in a gallery with paintings on the wall in the background; Uncle Sam is gesturing toward these paintings, which show Irish uprisings and unrest in England, volcanoes in Java, earthquakes in Italy, "Cholera" as the grim reaper in Egypt, French colonialism, anarchy in Spain, German militarism, and Alexander III, Emperor of Russia, standing on the body of a peasant in a painting titled "Russian Reform". On the far right, at a dock labeled "U.S. Navy", a ship in disrepair leans to one side. A bulldog gnaws on a bone labeled "New York" beneath a bench on the left.

Caption: Uncle Sam "Well, we seem to be getting along a little better than the rest of the world, and if we can't be thankful for all that we have, we may at least be thankful that there are some things we haven't."

Illus. from Puck, v. 14, no. 351, (1883 November 28), centerfold.

Copyright 1883 by Keppler & Schwarzmann.

It wasn't really until the 1700s that caricature truly blossomed as a form of political criticism. In the late 1750s, a man named Thomas Townshend began using the techniques employed by earlier engravers and applying them towards a political model. This gave Thompson's cartoons a much greater feeling of propaganda than previous artistic critiques of the time. The intense political climate of the period, and often accusatory nature of most political cartoons forced many artists to use pseudonyms in order to avoid accusations of libel. Other artists took it a step farther, and left their cartoons completely unsigned, foregoing any credit they may have received. Political higher-ups were notoriously touchy about their reputations and were not afraid to make examples of offenders. Puck was the first successful humor magazine in the United States of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. It was published from 1871 until 1918.

In the United States Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada - on the second Monday of October. The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They first held a celebration of their harvest in 1621. The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. It became a holiday in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year and is an official federal holiday that was moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Franklin Roosevelt. Many cities have large parades on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps the largest and most famous parade is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Another popular way to spend the day is watching NFL football. The traditional food for the Thanksgiving meal includes a turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, vegetables, and pumpkin pie. Each year a live turkey is presented to the President of the United States who then "pardons" the turkey and it gets to live out its life on a farm.

Alois Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, introduced the subject of colored lithography in 1818. Printers in other countries, such as France and England, were also started producing color prints. The first American chromolithograph—a portrait of Reverend F. W. P. Greenwood—was created by William Sharp in 1840. Chromolithographs became so popular in American culture that the era has been labeled as "chromo civilization". During the Victorian times, chromolithographs populated children's and fine arts publications, as well as advertising art, in trade cards, labels, and posters. They were also used for advertisements, popular prints, and medical or scientific books.

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emperor of russia uncle sam symbolic character columbia symbolic character thanksgiving day eating and drinking turkeys galleries and spaces international relations anarchism cartoons commentary chromolithographs color periodical illustrations keppler political cartoons vintage images thanksgiving russian empire russia prints new york 19th century history of russia images of uncle sam joseph ferdinand keppler ultra high resolution high resolution navy us navy vaccination cholera infectious diseases contageous diseases french art alexander iii library of congress vintage ads
date_range

Date

01/01/1883
person

Contributors

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894, artist
collections

in collections

The Golden Age of Political Cartoons

British and American political cartoons from 18th century.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: a day of turkey feasting, football and family.

Chromolithographs

Chromolithograph is printed by multiple applications of lithographic stones, each using a different color ink.
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Source

Library of Congress
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Link

http://www.loc.gov/
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

label_outline Explore Joseph Ferdinand Keppler, Cholera, Anarchism

Topics

emperor of russia uncle sam symbolic character columbia symbolic character thanksgiving day eating and drinking turkeys galleries and spaces international relations anarchism cartoons commentary chromolithographs color periodical illustrations keppler political cartoons vintage images thanksgiving russian empire russia prints new york 19th century history of russia images of uncle sam joseph ferdinand keppler ultra high resolution high resolution navy us navy vaccination cholera infectious diseases contageous diseases french art alexander iii library of congress vintage ads