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[Crocodilian]

One of the under-rated greats, Joseph Keppler was an Austrian immigrant to the US, and a founder of the satirical magazine "Puck".

When you look at his images, they divide rather neatly into issues which seem so contemporary that you could run them today (immigration, corruption of Congress by monied interests), and then other issues that are just historical curiosities.

On immigration, for example, consider this one



The title is a little hard to read, its
"Looking Backward: They would close to the newcomer the bridge that carried them and their fathers over"

I really like the visual conceit here, that the shadow cast reflects the histories of the men-- its a trick that Francis Ford Coppola used in Dracula, I'd be curious to see other instances

All of Keppler's work is now public domain, and there are a few internet archives, you can start here:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/puck/toons.html  (much of this material relates to now-obscure controversy as to whether Ulysses S Grant might seek a third term)

[narfstar]

I got a new perspective on immigration watching an episode of Undercover Boss. I found that it cost 15 grand to become a US citizen. LEGAL FEES that are absurd. This is the moneyed finding ways to make more money on the backs of the poor. I am not for amnesty but I do not think that it should cost a fortune to become a US citizen. I think learning fluent English and the required history and civil knowledge as well as having no criminal record and having a job that should be enough without paying.

[Crocodilian]

I got a new perspective on immigration watching an episode of Undercover Boss. I found that it cost 15 grand to become a US citizen. LEGAL FEES that are absurd. This is the moneyed finding ways to make more money on the backs of the poor. I am not for amnesty but I do not think that it should cost a fortune to become a US citizen. I think learning fluent English and the required history and civil knowledge as well as having no criminal record and having a job that should be enough without paying.

Well, you would have found that Keppler would agree.  Notice that in his cartoon, the arrival has a rather Teutonic look, a reference to Keppler himself, maybe (?)

Here's another Keppler that will resound with a populist. I should add that Keppler isn't really left wing or right wing -- some of his positions would strike you as very conservative, others as very liberal, but he's not a libertarian either.

This one is famous: "The Bosses of the Senate", with the inscription "This is a Senate of the Monopolists and by the Monopolists and for the Monopolists". I think if you changed the language and the clothes to be more contemporary, you could run this cartoon today.

[narfstar]

Absolutely true. We have pharmaceutical companies, banks, lawyers. AMA, etc keeping the little people screwed. Why does the AMA limit the number of doctors? Not to increase the quality but to increase the cost.

[Crocodilian]

Glad that it struck a chord. I think its extraordinary when something as old as this can still evoke the basic political sentiment that the author was going for . . . when you think about it, political cartoons from another era are usually very hard to decipher-- for one thing, unless you really study the era, you can't recognize the people.

Here's another innovation of Keppler's: emoticons.