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![Christmas 1885. [n. p.] [c. 1885].](https://cache.getarchive.net/Prod/thumb/cdn18/L3Bob3RvLzIwMTkvMTAvMTQvY2hyaXN0bWFzLTE4ODUtbi1wLWMtMTg4NS0yNzhlYTUtNjQwLmpwZw%3D%3D/40/63/webp "Christmas 1885. [n. p.] [c. 1885].")
Christmas at Washington / J. Keppler '83.
Summary
Print shows several members of Congress around a large Christmas tree labeled "Tax Surplus" decorated with money bags labeled "Surplus"; the legislators carry bags in which to place the bags of surplus they pluck from the tree. Among those identified are Charles W. Jones holding a bag labeled "Naval", William E. Chandler holding a bag labeled "Subsidies for a Merchant Steam Marine", William Mahone holding a bag labeled "Public Buildings and Grounds", John A. Logan holding a bag labeled "Appropriations" and reaching for a sack on the tree, Joseph W. Keifer lifting George M. Robeson holding a bag labeled "Partners in the New Naval Scheme", John Roach holding a bag labeled "New Navy Scheme", Henry L. Dawes holding a bag labeled "River & Harbor Bill", Francis M. Cockrell holding a bag labeled "Improvement of Mississippi River", Eugene Hale holding a bag labeled "River & Harbor Bill", John J. Ingalls holding a bag labeled "More Pensions", Benjamin F. Jonas holding a bag labeled "Improvement of Mississippi River", and Elbridge G. Lapham who is speaking to two well-dressed women, one holding a bag labeled "Lobby", he is also the angel holding a banner labeled "Help Yourself" at the top of the tree. Uncle Sam dances with three men in the foreground and, on the right, a lone "Tax Payer" stands outside in the snow.
Illus. from Puck, v. 14, no. 354, (1883 December 19), centerfold.
2nd copy illus. from: Puck, v. 14, no. 354, (1883 December 19), centerfold.
Library has two copies, one bound in vol. 12 and the second copy in LOT 14014.
Copyright 1883 by Keppler & Schwarzmann.
2nd copy (DLC/PP-2003:162.1775).
2nd copy forms part of: Ben and Beatrice Goldstein Foundation Collection (Library of Congress).
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.
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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