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The trials and tribulations of the transferred "coburger" / F. Opper.

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The trials and tribulations of the transferred "coburger" / F. Opper.

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Summary

Illustration shows a dejected soldier sitting at a train station beneath a sign that states "Trains Leave Every Hour for Fort Tombstone Fort Lonesome Fort Scalp'em and all Western Army Outposts" and near another sign that states "Special Accommodations for Transferred Army Officers", with an infant on his lap and his traveling orders labeled "Ordered to go West Secy. Endicott" between his knees; his extended family of wife, mother-in-law(?), children's nanny, and several rambunctious children accompany him. In the lower right foreground is a valise labeled "Major Dunerfull".

Caption: The effect of government reform on a military man of quiet domestic ambitions.
Illus. from Puck, v. 17, no. 442, (1885 August 26), cover.
Copyright 1885 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.

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.

The train station image dataset is picked from the world's largest public domain archive. Made in two steps - first, curated set, followed by running 25 Million public domain images through image recognition, it comprises more than 50,000 train station images from all countries and times. All images are in the public domain, so there are no restrictions on the dataset usage - educational, scientific, and commercial.

date_range

Date

01/01/1885
person

Contributors

Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1937, artist
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Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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