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The silver-tongued ventriloquist and his dummies / F. Opper.

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The silver-tongued ventriloquist and his dummies / F. Opper.

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Print shows a "Silver Mine Owner" as a "silver-tongued ventriloquist" sitting on a box labeled "16 to 1" on a stage, with William Jennings Bryan as a dummy sitting on his lap, holding papers labeled "Free Silver Harangues", and with two boxes at the mine owner's feet containing dummy Arthur "Sewall" on the right and dummies William A. "Peffer", Benjamin R. "Tillman", John P. "Altgeld", and George F. "Williams" on the left.

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.

Puck was founded by Austrian-born cartoonist Joseph Keppler and his partners as a German-language publication in 1876. Puck’s first English-language edition in 1877. The magazine name came from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream: “What fools these mortals be!” Puck used lithography instead of wood engraving and offered three cartoons vs. one of competitors. The cartoons were initially printed in black and white, but soon it changed into full, eye-catching color. Within a few years, Judge supplanted Puck as the leading humor magazine.

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.

Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually, a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy", the art of speaking or singing in such a way that the sound appears to come from a source other than the person's mouth. The term "ventriloquism" comes from the Latin words "ventus" (belly) and "loqui" (to speak), and it literally means "to speak from the belly." Ventriloquism has a long history, with evidence of the practice dating back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In the Middle Ages, ventriloquism was associated with religious practices, and it was often performed by priests and other religious figures. In the modern era, ventriloquism has evolved into a form of entertainment, and it is performed by professional ventriloquists in a variety of settings, including stage shows, television, and film.

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Date

01/01/1896
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Contributors

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937, artist
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Source

Library of Congress
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Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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bryan william jennings
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