With a Wink and a Nod: Cartoonists of the Gilded Age

The Flagler Museum's fall 2015 exhibition With a Wink and a Nod: Cartoonists of the Gilded Age showcased rare original drawings made for the American humor magazine Puck, a pioneering publication that helped shape the character of American humor. Created by Austrian immigrant and cartoonist Joseph Keppler, Sr., Puck and its artists sought to bring about change through humor, attacking those guilty of corruption, greed, or vanity, and supporting the rights of the underdogs. Named after Shakespeare's mischievous sprite in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the magazine's masthead featured the character Puck and his famous observation, "What fools these mortals be!" A perfect manifestation of the magazine's editorial point of view, Puck was often depicted in cartoons pointing out the errors – or foolishness - of man's ways. Published initially as a German-language magazine in 1876, Puck's first English edition was printed in 1877 and continued to 1918. Puck was packed with lavish cartoons, color