Opper, Frederick Burr
Frederick Burr Opper (January 2, 1857 – August 28, 1937) was an American artist and pioneer of the American newspaper comic strip, best known for his successful Happy Hooligan. His oeuvre encompassed humorous magazine cartoons, covers, political cartoons and comic strips spanning sixty years. The eldest of three children born to Austrian-American immigrants Lewis and Aurelia Burr Oppers in Madison, Ohio, he dropped out of school at fourteen to work as a printer's apprentice at the local Madison Gazette. Two years later he moved to New York City where he worked day jobs while continuing to draw. He studied briefly at Cooper Union, and worked briefly under illustrator Frank Beard. Opper's first cartoon was published in Wild Oats in 1876, after which he received regular work from Scribner’s Monthly and St. Nicholas Magazine. He worked steadily for Leslie's Weekly (1877 to 1880) but found a home employer with Puck Magazine for 18 years, drawing spot illustrations, color centerfold spreads, and covers. With Puck, Opper blossomed as a satirist, skewering newspaper moguls, politicians, and industrialists while championing 'Mr. Common Man.' His work spread to newspapers around the country, and in numerous books. A professional cartoonist, he painted as a hobby.
Puck Magazine Explodes 1881's Republican Corruption in this Gilded Age Cartoon
Puck's Pyrotechnics. Fourth-ogf-July Fireworks Free to All.
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This spectacular and scarce Puck centerfold, drawn in 1882 by cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper (1857 - 1937). True to his best satirical form, Opper has packed this image with allusions to the year's events both in jest and in celebration. In the foreground from an electric-lit stage, the magazine's titular mascot (having set off the fireworks display, torch in hand) bows to a gaping and appreciative audience: one women offers up her baby for the pantsless Puck to kiss. Puck shares the stage with another torch-bearer: a statuesque hand with a guttering torch, alluding to end of the Madison Square tenure of the Statue of Liberty's arm. The stage is backed with a fanlight, decorated with the likenesses of William H. Vanderbilt, Russell Sage, Cyrus W. Field, and Jay Gould; these railroad barons and philanthropists were frequent butts for Puck's humor in general (and Opper's in particular) so it is equally possible that their position of 'honor' here alludes to their massive privilege, or an oblique 'thank you' from the magazine for providing so much of the year's material. Somewhat puzzlingly, all four likenesses appear on bags. Money bags? (more details)