"Holy John" Wanamaker: Color Cartoon Centerfold
1991; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Volume: 115; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2169-8546
Autores Tópico(s)Comics and Graphic Narratives
ResumoHoly Wanamaker: Color Cartoon Centerfold Known best TO Philadelphians as a founding father of modern American retailing and to students of American reli gion as a major figure in such manifestations of post-Civil War Protestant outreach as the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and Sunday-school movements, John Wanamaker achieved celebrity of a decidedly different sort during the 1889-1893 presidency of Benjamin Harrison. During his stint as Postmaster General in Harrison's cabinet, Wanamaker became notorious in the minds of many Americans unfamiliar with his entrepreneurial and religious exploits as a symbol of political sleaze and mendacity. The color cartoon art gracing the covers and centerfolds of such dime illustrated humor weeklies as Puck and Judge repeatedly caricatured Wanamaker during the Harrison regime, often casting him in starring roles. The dominant cartoon image of Wanamaker became that of Holy or Saint Wanamaker, symbol of spoils statecraft and holier-than-thou hypocrisy. Even within the tradition of a medium renowned for droll defamation?Many cartoonists would be hired assassins if they couldn't draw, Jeff MacNelly once joked1?the image of Wana maker created by the leading graphic satirists of the day stands out as uncommonly unfair. During Wanamaker's tenure in Washington, political cartooning was dominated by two rival New York dime humor weeklies, Puck and Judge. Begun in a German-language format in 1876 by the
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