By GUY LAMOLINARA
Edith Wharton called it the Age of Innocence.
But the far more cynical Mark Twain called the period just after the Civil War the Gilded Age in his novel (with Charles Dudley Warner) of the same name. As Twain saw it, materialism, profligacy, corruption in government and the ruthless exploitation of natural resources characterized an era of excess.
An exhibition at the Library, "Savage Glee: Pictorial Satire of the Gilded Age," celebrates the often comical, frequently vicious cartoons produced by some of the best artists of the day in magazines such as Judge, Puck and Vim.
"There are a lot of similarities between that age and today," said Harry Katz, curator of applied and graphic arts in the Prints and Photographs Division. "There was a lack of confidence in public officials and a strong independent vote, as there is now. There was also a great deal of concern about immigration. Those who were established in America were resentful of the millions of immigrants flooding the nation looking for opportunity."
An 1870s cartoon that lampoons that resentment is "The Problem Solved," showing a railroad laborer from China and one from Ireland swallowing Uncle Sam. The Asian eventually swallows the Irish immigrant as well. Although the idea that immigrants were taking jobs away was undocumented, "the press sensationalized the issue and made it very believable to people," said Mr. Katz.
The C.J. Taylor cartoon "Free Trade Bugaboo," which appeared in Puck in 1886, is evidence that the issue of free trade was as pertinent then as it is today. The monopolistic business barons of the Gilded Age were able to maintain their iron grip on industry by persuading the politicians that as long as there was "free trade" there was no need to investigate their business practices. "So it was essentially a combination of big business and big politics working to suppress the working class. That's the message" of the cartoon, said Mr. Katz.
Another journal, Vim, bemoans the greed of big-business department stores that were putting the specialty store owner out of business. Leon Barritt's image of a vampire was especially appropriate because it appeared in 1898, shortly after Bram Stoker's Dracula was published. "It's a very rich cartoon on several levels," said Mr. Katz. "Now you're seeing the cartoonist playing on new developments in the popular culture, incorporating them into his cartoon to suggest a theme of American life."
The publication's hipness, however, was not sufficient to keep it afloat. Vim ceased publishing after only 10 issues. According to Mr. Katz, no other library has the complete set, which was acquired through copyright deposit.
For anyone who thinks politics is dirtier today than a century ago, take a look at Frank Beard's "Another Voice for Cleveland," published in The Judge in 1884. In it, a woman holds a baby who's reaching for Cleveland, saying, "I want my Pa!," an allusion to the president's illegitimate child. Before the allegation, Cleveland had had an unblemished political career. He eventually accepted financial responsibility for the child's care without ever admitting to being responsible for its conception.
"The questions about presidential morality are the kinds of things that have always gone on," said Mr. Katz. "The slander of American political candidates has a long history in American cartooning as well as American politics."
Politicians were also the subject of the artist's poison pen in "Christmas at Washington" by James Keppler in Puck.
Although the politicians who are caricatured are not recognizable today, they would have been well known to a reader in 1883. "These people were indicted for crimes against the country," said Mr. Katz. "They are shown plucking their favorite money bags off the tree while the American taxpayer stands outside in the cold."
Not even the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was beyond reproach. In "The Only Thing He Won't Kiss" from Budget of Fun, the clergyman's alleged womanizing comes under scrutiny. A subsequent court case became a media circus. "Americans all over the country were fascinated to see him brought down," said Mr. Katz.
"One aspect of the Gilded Age that is very important by comparison with today is the cartoonist's attitude toward gender, race and ethnicity," said Mr. Katz. "For the most part, anybody who wasn't a white male was treated very harshly in these magazines. The publishers of these cartoons were largely establishment figures who persisted in promoting racial, ethnic and gender stereotypes."
One such stereotype can be seen in an 1873 Daily Graphic caricature of Susan B. Anthony, who is portrayed as a "mannish fanatic," said Mr. Katz. "Here you see a man holding a baby, which was hilarious then, whereas now it's strictly routine."
Also anachronistic is the woman in a police officer's uniform. "That would have been ridiculously absurd to readers then," Mr. Katz added.
Thomas Nast, the most influential cartoonist of his day, is represented in the exhibit case "Waving the Bloody Shirt." The cartoon "That Same Old Pirate Afloat Again," published in Harper's Weekly in 1874, shows a Confederate soldier aboard a ship called The New Alabama raising a flag that says "This Is a White Man's Government" above a skull and crossbones. He stands on a Union flag with the words "Equal Rights to All."
"Nast became almost fanatical in his criticism," said Mr. Katz, "to the point where he was bashing the South and Southern Democrats long after the rest of the country wanted to forget. But he had a very supportive readership and a very supportive magazine in Harper's Weekly."
America's great robber barons were easy targets for magazines such as Puck, whose satiric slogan was "What Fools These Mortals Be."
The Oct. 18, 1882, cover depicted a rotund Cornelius Vanderbilt, bursting out of his clothing and puffing on a fat cigar. He leans back confidently in his chair, with the American eagle beneath his boot. Two dogs chained to his chair wear collars reading "Congress" and "Legislature." On the wall are his mottoes: "I don't take any stock in this silly nonsense about working for anybody's good but OUR OWN"; "When we make a move we do it because it is in our interest to do so"; and "I always find the antimonopolists come the cheapest."
Though Harper's still survives today, other magazines of the period were not so fortunate. These magazines ushered in an era of high- quality commercial color printing, and, after 1880, most successful satirical journals featured covers and centerfolds in brilliant color. Although most of the satirical magazines of the period were extinct by the 1930s, their influence on cartooning and on printing itself are seen today.
"Savage Glee: Pictorial Satire of the Gilded Age" can be seen in the Oval Gallery on the sixth floor of the Madison Building. The exhibition can be seen 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday only, through March 3.